FernStone

Iron and Honey: A Love Story [FernStone & AtomicEmperor]

Casey nodded calmly, leaning his lower body up against the bar and letting her slide into him gently. He slowly let his consciousness split positions, with the right ear’s hearing collapsing for a moment. It was odd experiencing full deafness; and the only thing more strange was picking the audio feed back up from a new location using only one. It wasn’t the same as putting a single earbud in. That didn’t give you the sensation of the atmosphere or air of a place. You didn’t get vague gusts of air brushing against your non-existent flesh.

That entire ear was as close to being back up at his chair as it could be without legs.

”-and I have incredibly fond memories of working with-”

She had to be stalling. Or something. He felt like a federal wiretapper at this point, hoping to catch the hardened criminal blabbing about business on the phone. She was scheduled for fifteen minutes, but because of how short Casey cut it, it seemed like she was taking advantage of the gap, which he could contextually accept. She was stalling. Because of him!

”I really doomed us… How long was I on stage? Three minutes? Maybe four, because of the proposal? I gave this bitch an extra ten minutes… She’s just yappin’ away!” he vaguely tipped his hand, absentmindedly keying Trisha into a conversation that had been only in his mind.

Trisha frowned, trying her best not to reactively tense when he spilled that he was listening in on something entirely different. Sure, they weren't immediately talking about anything. Maybe it was unrealistic to expect him to just be in the moment with her, ready to pay attention if she said anything. But she was doing that for him! Even if she had spying magic, she wouldn't be using it.

And sure, he was listening in on a public speech they'd walked away from. But what if Cass and Leon were having a more private conversation and he picked up that too? She still… Really didn't like spying at all.

“It’s just talking." Trisha managed to say, trying to stay calm. To not get too tense. But it was hard.
“It’s not like you have to listen, Casey. Nobody's forcing you to. You're not even there. We came here for some quiet, and you're listening in somewhere else."

Casey reflexively frowned. There were a lot of reasons he figured she may be understanding at this point, but it was a cold realization that he had to be online almost always. Maybe someday, he’d be able to slack… But this duty of maintaining some level of guarded veiling was tiresome. He wasn’t used to it. He didn’t want to do it with his family, and he didn’t want to do it with her.

But he’d just proposed officially in front of a lot of people. More to the point was the proposal itself: So important that it was worth remembering that this was all going to get better. He’d ask forgiveness for now, not permission. But, maybe she’d be willing to see his side if he explained it even half-correct.

”This could be the last time she speaks publicly. And, y’know, maybe she’ll leave something cryptic behind! Some kind of hint or clue about what her plans are for the coming days. And yeah, there’s other people there listening, but I can’t trust them like I trust me! I trust me to really hear it! And, besides, we came back here to make a phone call, and I said ‘Lets take a breath.’. Nowhere did I say- Y’know, no. I’m sorry, Trisha. I’m not doing this. Sit here and be mad at me all you want, but I’m just gonna fuckin-”

He tucked his hand down his pants, pulling up the tucked in shirt until he had a grip on his glove Channeler before pulling it out and tossing it on the floor a couple feet away.

”-take care of the problem. It’s the only thing I can imagine will actually work at this point.”

Trisha reactively flinched, frown deepening.
“I’m not mad at you."

She wasn't. At least, she hadn't been. Upset and annoyed, maybe. It was creeping more towards being mad though with how he reacted. Like she was being unreasonable to be upset about it… maybe she was! But he didn't need to throw his channeler away. He was acting like she was a child throwing a tantrum.

Which only made her feel worse. He didn't even bother finishing his explanation cause he didn't think she'd understand. Maybe she wouldn't! But she didn't think she was being unreasonable. He knew she didn't like the spying. She accepted it for certain safety things, but… she still didn't like it.

“If you wanted to listen to Lynette's speech, you could've said. We didn't need to make the call right now. I was fine with waiting. You didn't need to resort to magical spying. I could've talked to Cass and Leon and Gin if you wanted to pay attention to it."

Casey gently shook his head in response.

”You'd have wound up getting sassy toward someone who doesn't deserve it because you were feeling bad about the situation. So we came back here with the plan to take care of things.”

His voice was incredibly calm. At first, he felt that he probably shouldn't have jumped the gun like this. But the channeler on the ground meant she had his full attention no matter what. Which is clearly what she wanted.

”I made the presumption that, since we were just relaxing and not talking about anything, that I'd slide one side of the headphones on. It's no different than that, Trisha. I'm not spying, or anything malicious. I'm just doing two things at once. I'm comforting my fiance, and listening to my Mom's last public speech. I know I shouldn't care, she's a walking corpse. I get it. I'm sorry.”

“I didn’t say you shouldn’t care. You’re twisting my words, Casey.” Trisha’s hands curled into fists as she tried to stay calm. But it felt like he was just doubling down on thinking she was unreasonable and just apologising because he had to. Because she was making a big deal of something she shouldn’t.

He thought she would’ve snapped at someone else, too. Like she couldn’t control herself at all. Maybe she couldn’t… But the expectation didn’t help.
“You… could’ve asked. I don’t know, it takes five seconds to say ‘oh can I listen in’ or something. Because I’m not doing anything else. And why do you think I’d just snap at someone! Because I’m so unreasonable all the time? I’m sorry for caring about things so much.”

She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment. She knew she was just proving that as she spiraled. But even when she thought that, she couldn’t prevent it.

”And it takes me a literal eye blink to tune in.”

She was right, of course. But, this visceral reaction to the situation every single time was something that was growing difficult to not actively target. The idea that self improvement was a glacially paced process didn't help when she spun herself into anxiety attacks every other day. She could be as right as she wanted about a couple minor things, but it'd never change the fact that her rawness didn't feel right. Like she was always ready to find a beast to claw into from behind.

”Sometimes I do it without thinking. But I can't right now! Look! I'm right here with you, and we're talking, and I'm not paying attention to anything else but you! My fiance!” he pleaded, hoping the word fiance would become some kind of defusal tool. Bomb squad technology…

“But you don’t want to be! You’d rather be paying attention to something else. You’re only paying attention because you think I’m causing a problem and being unreasonable!” Trisha jumped to wild conclusions with no foundation, the anxiety she’d been trying and failing to suppress spilling out.

But it was true, wasn’t it? That he thought she was being unreasonable, at least, and was annoyed about it. Why wouldn’t he be? But it wasn’t like she’d attacked him. She’d just voiced being upset that he was listening to something else.

“Just like everyone else does.”

Casey's face twisted with vague disgust.

”You're so quick to accuse me of being like everyone else. That's fine, Trish. You can say whatever it is you want about me, but we sleep in the same bed. Tonight, we'll go to bed next to one another, no matter how pissy you are at me. And then tomorrow, you'll wake up next to me, no matter how pissy you are. And every day after that, barring any small period where we're separated by distance for a reason, we'll be together no matter how fucking pissy you can possibly get.” he chided, stepping closer until his hands could reach out to hers.

They tried to intertwine fingers, abutting against hers without any mutuality.

”Thats the only way I'll ever prove to you that I'm not like anyone else you've ever met… But you go ahead and be upset. It's natural, I guess. I'll live.”

“Why’s- Why’s it all on me being pissy. I wasn’t even that upset until you doubled down and threw your glove away. I- I-” She closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see his expression, her own a mix of anguish and irritation.

”Because I don't have these reactions to things, Babe! I don't need plans and preparation- If I freak out over something, I-”
This was pointless. Arguing with her like this was pointless. He took a deep breath.

”-Just… Come back to me, Trisha. We were having a nice night, right? We were doing good? Let's make it twenty more minutes, please…” he pleaded in return.

Trisha’s eyes were still squeezed shut, her head shaking slightly.
“I told you- that I’d always be like this, and you still proposed! This is me. I-”

She didn’t want to get upset or mad at him, just like she didn’t want to panic over things and have reactions. But it was so hard not to when it was all she’d done for all of her life, and normally people just fucked off because of it! And she still lashed out at the one person who didn’t because of everything that had happened before- and she loved him. Which only made her more scared and upset.

“I need to go on a walk. To clear my head.” Before she ruined things more.

”I don't want you to leave, Trisha… I really don't think its fair when I-” have to make sure I don't show you my back anytime I walk away.

He didn't let the whole sentence leave his throat, catching it and coughing it out in a single sputter.

”-thought I was trying to apologize. But, at this point, I feel like whatever move I make is gonna be the wrong one. So, I guess you do what you have to do. I won't spy on you or anything… Will you at least meet me back here when you feel like you can look at me? I love you.”

Trisha nodded, eyes slowly opening, hazy with tears. She didn’t quite look at him- because she was worried about what she’d see. Even though he was trying to defuse the situation, she still felt so worried.

“This is me trying to be better, Casey. So I don’t just get more upset.” She whispered, not sounding all that confident about it. But it wasn’t exactly something she’d tried before- stepping away, that was. Outside of the one time Casey had basically forced her to. They had ended up having a big conversation because of it.

Maybe it wouldn’t work. But she felt so tense and agitated, and underneath it all she knew it was unreasonable. And she still wanted to go home and propose herself and enjoy his company. But she couldn’t if she got more mad! Maybe she really would be able to clear her head.

Or spiral more. But at least she’d be getting upset at herself rather than him, right?

“I love you too. You really-” deserve better. She sucked in a sharp breath.
“I’ll come back.”

”I don't see anything better than you. You'll have to wait until we have kids for that…” he replied simply, putting his hand up in a weak wave.

He really didn't want her to go anywhere. But, if she thought that walking around here would make her feel better, then maybe it would. He had no qualms about the quality of security, at least. There were so many eyes watching everything; all he really had to do was pull a bunch of Recollections and deal with parsing out the collective memories.

But, still… Walk away? To avoid getting upset? Sounded like the opposite of how Trisha worked.

”I'm gonna hold you to coming back… Big trouble if you disappear.” he tried to joke as she took another step away from him.

”I… already miss you.”

Why would he already miss her? She’d just been arguing with him, she just been pissy and unreasonable and-
“I won’t disappear.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say anything else, because she’d probably break down. But that was a problem too! She snapped at him then made him comfort her. Wouldn’t he just get annoyed again if all the self doubts- self hatred- just spilled out?

And she’d probably just snap again. She could feel it, the building resentment that she wanted to- needed to- get rid of. Or try to… Because he shouldn’t have to deal with it.

So while she didn’t plan to disappear entirely, she did disappear back out the side door they’d come in.

She didn’t want to go far, or out of the actual tents. Thankfully it was quietening down a bit- less devout members and those with younger children leaving before all the speeches were done. There were more quiet areas. Nobody tried to talk to her either, thankfully, as she made her way about as far as she could from the box without leaving the canopies. She’d hadn’t brought her coat, after all, just her bag.

And she really didn’t want to run away. She really was trying to do what she said she would- to stop and think things through alone.

So she found herself another quiet spot. Less private, less nice, but hidden away enough between staff areas and the main tables that she felt that she could stop. Stop, think, and hold her head in her hands.

Because she had reacted badly again. Casey may still be putting up with it, but how long would he be able to? She wasn’t exactly improving. If anything, she felt like she was getting worse. Fuck.

They'd already dealt with so much tonight. The proposal and after it was meant to be good. They should've just left. Then she wouldn't have gotten upset.

But there’d be something else, wouldn’t there? Because the problem was her, not the situation. It was all her. Maybe she should go back and apologise. No, no, she was still touchy. She might just make things worse. Did she even deserve to go back and see Casey right now? She didn’t-

There was a shift inside her mind. A subtle stir of the Queen normally sleeping within. Not quite awake, but enough to get Trisha’s attention. She turned her head away from the ground she was looking at towards the nearest table her attention was being tugged towards.

Just in time to see a woman standing up, skin eerily shifting. It wasn’t like a Green Adept, or any other transformative magic she’d seen. It was more disturbing. Like the skin it wore wasn’t quite its, but was enough part of it that changing it wasn’t right either. A blanker, less human version, pulling out a knife to attack the man next to it.

Trisha’s breath caught in her throat, multiple screams echoing in her ears. It wasn’t just one. Was it- It was what Casey had spoken about, wasn’t it? The Doppelgangers- and they’d waited until the end of the night. When things were getting quieter. There were less innocent members left, sure, but some strong Adepts had left too.

But none of the truly important ones.

Shit, shit, shit- Trisha crouched, dropping her bag to pull Princess out. Slightly trembling hands didn’t stop her from willing the plush toy alive, increasing her size back to her normal, large and round size. It was easier thanks to the bread… And the bees immediately responded to her call through it.

Thousands of bees streamed out of Princess’ bright orange fluff, Trisha’s phone ringing with the alarm from the app. She ignored it- it didn’t matter, everyone else was already here. A dense cloud of bees filled the air in front of her as the nearest Doppelganger turned towards her with an eerie gaze, seeming to sniff the air.

Were they targetting specific people? No, that made no sense- why would it come for her now? They were killing everyone, right? Otherwise their targets would be people like Lynette- Or Casey and Leon!

Shit, Casey- He was so far away. But- He’d be safe, he’d be fine, he was a better fighter than she was. She needed to- Ah!

A bee got caught on the blade, another group squashed in the Doppelganger’s hand as it advanced on her. The jolt of pain in her mind was enough to get her to focus, stopping the bees from aimlessly swarming and stinging something that didn’t seem to feel pain. If it did, it didn’t care.

Trisha shuffled back, pulling on the threads that connected her to the increasing amount of bees nearby. Still not all of them… Princess was mobile, at least, and moved out of the way.

It takes at least five hundred stings to kill someone.

One cloud of bees formed a sharp wall in front of Trisha as she retreated, able to block and avoid getting crushed under her command. She’d spent enough time with Casey now to start organising things better, even if it was all under her orders. The main wall was a distraction, the occasional buzz to her mind as one died manageable. But each new group that came out of Princess was sent to sting another area before joining it.

Unpredictable attacks… The kind a living, thinking person could probably figure out. But this was a Doppelganger with orders, not a full fledged human. Not yet, at least.

She hardly had to worry. In a one versus one her bees were overwhelming. The tactics were to minimise deaths- enough stings to kill were easy to reach with thousands at her command. It didn’t stop her heart from pounding in her chest as the first Doppelganger that had come for her fell dead.

Because there were so many more. And she was alone.

Things moved incredibly fast. Like the old days, when a peaceful moment suddenly became filled with chaos due to the Stygian Snake and its many pawns. Some screams weren’t just the deaths of innocent Blinds either; psionic screeches echoed and bounced off one connecting signal to the other as the random violence landed partially upon the Mauteo spread throughout the audience.

White Lux dying in droves was a powerful indicator for any Paranormal individual to take a cue from. Especially when they were all connected like this, as the cacophonous bursting of their spells battered the Emotional Fields of all present. Massive white eyes materialized by the dozens, only to burst into gaseous nothing and climb into the sky. Screaming smoke signals serving as alarm bells in the drone of the evening.

But they weren’t entirely helpless either. Many escaped the initial burst of violence which saw each Undesired pawn twisting their bodies to the right and burying whatever cutlery they had deep into the chest of the unsuspecting victim aside. Some were on the left, or on the other side of the table, leaving them poised to make a counterattack. Most Mauteo didn’t carry blades anymore, but their culture was born of great deeds. They didn’t hesitate to evolve the same tactic as the Undesired, forks and knives plummeting into hollow wooden bodies.

Flesh was flesh, bone was bone, but once it all stopped working, it became clear that some quality of these puppets were never really human at all. That the skin they crawled within had been some incredible illusion, and that all which writhed in agony to the bitter end beneath their killing blows was a shell. A hollow thing that stared blankly, no eyes to speak of. Gears within whirred loudly, then exploded into metal shrapnel that ripped their wooden frames apart with loud pops.
As the one Trisha killed hadn’t exploded, there was a chance it was circumstantial, or otherwise a condition wasn’t met. And certainly not a thing to be cleared up now, as two more were approaching, coated in blood as they’d successfully made it through the opening gambit and noticed a Paranormal target to prioritize.

Trisha grimaced, continuing to back away from the 'body'. Maybe it wouldn't explode, but maybe it would- and she couldn't take something like that! It'd kill far too many bees protecting her.

And now she had two more to worry about. The bees split into three groups now. Each Undesired approaching her was swarmed, doing her best to slow them down. But they weren't really living breathing things. The faux humanity was stripped away and with it any feeling of pain. Where a human would be stopped by thousands of bee stings, they weren't.

The cutlery they'd picked up wasn't exactly efficient against bees, but there was enough strength that they could crush the bees swarming them underneath their hands. Each death was another mental jolt to Trisha's mind, blood beginning to drip from her nose. But while there was just a shell underneath, they still started to succumb to the venom in her bees stings all the same.

But they were faster than she was, with half her mind on controlling the bees and the other half on trying to retreat. The fuzzier her mind got from bee loss the harder it got. A hand practically stripped of all flesh grabbed her, a fork stabbing towards her bee covered neck. Sharp jolts exploded in her mind as her bees swarmed up and pushed back at the metal implement, more fiercely stinging her attacker. She kicked at it, feeling herself pulled to the ground as it tried to get her in its death throes.

She wasn't physically strong enough to stop it, but the venom was quickly killing it. It made it easier to twist and kick it away, even as she hit the ground on her side. She flipped onto her back to start scrambling away, kicking at the grasping hands of two rapidly dying Undesired.

There were a lot of loud pops at this point, not just from the chest cavities exploding from the Undesired perishing, but gunshots filling the surrounding area of the park. The noise was growing to an incredible level as people left without a fight in them began to really scream and break for an exit. Any side would do, as the entire platform was only raised so high that it could hide the crab buried in the sand beneath.

Which is exactly what Trisha needed most right now: In retaliation to the backlash caused by its favored people being killed off by the handfuls, the Crab below the boards had started to raise its temperature to an immense degree. Now, as it sucked water from the surrounding earth and soil, erosion began to occur that exposed its gaping maw and left a newly formed ravine that allowed sea water to travel down the passage and be sucked in rapidly.

And then the crab began to boil. And in doing so, it allowed super concentrated jets of steam to push from its joints and pores in its shell. One of these jets, its trajectory situated just right, buckled the wooden boards above it and absolutely shredded the two Undesired apart before ripping into a crowd. The first few innocents were split in half with a burst of brine, while those surrounding them suffered salty, scalding burns across their exposed flesh as they tried to run.

While they were scary, it also seemed to have a rhythm like a heartbeat. The jets would pulse hard, die off, be dead for a moment, then rage back to life leaving a massive plume of steam to block vision every time.
This wasn’t a safe place for bees. But, it also wasn’t really a safe place for anyone. With patience and a little confidence, the jets spraying out all over the place would work wonders as improvised weaponry, but that was asking quite a lot from people who’d never seen combat and chaos before.

Trisha winced as the splattered, residual spray hit her kicking feet, scrambling and rolling away from the boiling jet stream. She'd escaped the worst of it- the burns on her legs just surface damage, painful but not debilitating. The bees that couldn't get off the Undesired in time were left worse off, burning up with sharp jolts to her mind.

It was bad… But it gave her something else to work with. All of the bees were called back to her and Princess, covering both. Princess stayed hovered beside Trisha- easily moved but not in the way. One hand moved up to try and wipe away the blood streaming from her nose before giving up. The corners of her vision were slightly fuzzy, but not enough to impede her. She'd dealt with worse situations before. Times when she ended up alone against the Stygian Snake's minions too. These weren't so bad. She was older now, more capable.

There were more approaching her now, two close and a few more further. It was easier for them to target the Paranormals where the innocents were fleeing. Anyone who stayed and fought was a target. The jet nearby blasted again as she pushed herself to her feet, mentally counting in her head.

Deep breaths, staying calm, counting down. Let them get close enough to grab… Trisha leapt back in a sudden movement when her internal countdown ended, as the Undesired went for her right over a jet. She landed on her ass and immediately rolled away, bees quickly protecting her in case she mistimed it.

The thing surged forward in response, but tripped when the expected blast of air didn’t happen. One foot fell into the broken boards, causing the Undesired to slip and crack itself open before getting wholesale blasted by an extra-cooked jet of pressurized boiling water.

Several of Casey’s presumed cousins stepped in around Trisha for a brief moment, seeing her struggling on the ground. One of them hoisted her up, and she’d be able to see that his face was completely covered by his shirt so people couldn’t see it. Yet, he moved like he could see everything, and passed her just as quickly as he’d come with the rest of his small group in tow as they hunted for vulnerable dolls to destroy.

Out ahead, Trisha would be able to see the box and the stage in the short distance. It looked like the end of a superhero movie, with lights and flashing colors, massive weapons and gunshots ringing out like life inside a combustion engine. It seemed like anyone who said they cared about her wouldn’t be able to help… Until-

”Triiisshhaaa!”

Cass was still a bit away, fighting through the Undesired that just kept coming. She was a constantly shifting animal hybrid, swapping parts in and out as necessary. Extra limbs grew to block something then disappeared just as quickly. Scales covered her body up to her slightly elongated face, sharp teeth stained with whatever it was those things had in them. Blood? Tasted close enough. Her legs imitated a cheetah’s for speed, with a strong flexible tail that didn’t seem to be from any animal adding yet another weapon she could use.

Of course, there were the signature wolf ears poking out the top of her head.

She dodged and caught the next Undesired that came at her, ripping it in two with a burst of strength. Her veins glowed green with the act, quickly throwing the separated parts in two different directions before it exploded. She’d learnt that the hard way when one exploded right in her face! It was only thanks to her super Green Lux healing factor she was alive and in one piece.

It was easy to heal and recreate. For now. Even with her massive reserves, she was using a shit ton. The closer she got to Trisha the more she was having to exercise some amount of control, rather than just letting her magic run wild.

Trisha was filled with relief at the sight of Cass, no matter how weird she looked right now. She wasn’t being left alone… Not that she thought Casey would do that, even when they were fighting. Or Cass herself, for that matter. But she didn’t have to fight by herself. Thank fuck.

There were more Undesired circling in around her even as Cass tore her way through them. Trisha knew where the jets were now, at least. But it was an extra mental strain to command her bees to attack the closed doppelganger while keeping them out of burning hot steam. They were beginning to flag, the increased heat and humidity in the air not conductive for them. But they were strong, like her. They could keep going.

As Trisha’s gaze was taken by Cass, and the Undesired began to circle around her tighter, the edges of the canopies were starting to get darker and darker, like the night outside was growing moonless. It was; and like being trapped inside an eclipse, the open sides became closed and illuminated from the rear to beam hellish red light which cast writhing shadows along every possible angle. The event lights dimmed, and even the plumes of steam climbing toward the canopy ceiling were subject to blocking weak light and causing amorphous shadows to grow across the floor.

The sensation was all too familiar: And there were only two constants when something like this happened… One, was that there was an Apparition somewhere nearby channeling the energy of the Stygian Snake, and could most likely be found within the arena along with the general populace. And two: Anyone left inside would be fighting to the death. Against the light, and the dark. Against the shadows. Against their own friends, and eventually their senses until all went dark.

Thus, the power of an Archserpent: One of the Stygian Snake’s most trusted lieutenants and creations of its own vast shadowy complex. And that Archserpent didn’t hesitate in manifesting through every single shadow it possibly could. Looking deep enough into any shadow nearby, and one would see the hundred piercing eyes and burning tongue flicking out and waiting for a chance to strike. Some lengths of shadows materialized as serpentine forms without prompting, rushing to constrict and devour anyone they could.

This was bad. It may not have happened to Trisha very often, but there was a wolf’s howling in the near distance that turned into cacophonous rage. He knew. And there was immediate reactions as magical lights and flares all tried to drown out the opportunities for shadow to exist in large, open swaths.

Just like Leon had directed them to do all those years ago.

No, no, no, it couldn’t be. The Stygian Snake was sealed, and all its creation with it. How could it- unless it was free?! Panic clutched Trisha as there seemed to be shadows everywhere she looked. It didn’t matter that lights and flares lit up the area- she’d backed herself into a corner where it was so much easier for the darkness to thrive.

Just like then. Just like all the times she fought its lesser shadow constructs. Various scars flared up in phantom pain as her breathing quickened, each breath getting stuck in her throat. It was like she was doused in cold water. All she could hear was screams and shouts, shadows covering everything. She was fourteen again. Losing the fight for her life. Losing the only people that mattered then.

Her legs buckled underneath her as she struggled to breath. The past and present overlapped into a nightmarish cacophony. Panic pheromones blasted into the air around her and the bees went mad, buzzing and stinging anything that came nearby. There was no more direction, even as the Undesired continued to close in, and shadows began to slither towards her.

I can’t go through that again. Fuck, no, I can’t.

She couldn’t move. Trapped in fear, unable to do anything as an Undesired got close enough to make a stab at her throat.

Blood splattered across her face, but there was no pain that came with it.

”Trisha, snap outta it- Fuck!” Cass had taken the knife to the abdomen, ripping it out and stabbing the Undesired in the eye with it. She quickly tossed that one towards another group to explode them. But there were even more coming. Three lunging at once was difficult for her to handle, even with all of her magic. She let them hit her instead of Trisha, tearing out their fake flesh while they tore at her.

As she went to toss the last one away, seconds ticking down before it exploded, a cold pain burnt through her arm. A shadow serpent had its teeth in her wrist, beginning to devour from hand up.

Fuck, fuck!

Green Lux pumped rapidly around Cass’ body, veins filling with a neon green glow as she rapidly grew. She was large enough to completely block Trisha as the Undesired exploded into deadly shrapnel. It tore off her whole arm and the shadowy serpent with it, more ripping through her abdomen and lodging into various parts of her body.

The pain was intense as she shrunk back down. Natural Green Lux started to heal the wounds as she tore out sharp metal pieces with her one hand- but she seized full control of the magic flow to stop it from healing more than was necessary. All major wounds knit up just as painfully as they formed, her arm rapidly healing but not regrowing. She didn’t have enough magic to keep fighting and properly heal everything. Every wound was clotted, she wasn’t going to die… She was just one arm down now, and covered in a lot of barely scabbed wounds.

As blood mixed with shadows and gore from torn limbs hit Trisha, her panic only increased. Her vision was getting blurry, her extremities going numb as she heaved in sharp, shallow breaths. Tears spilled down her cheeks and panicked whimpers escaped her lips. Not again, no, not again…

She could see them in the writhing shadows. The limp bodies of her friends… The two she hadn’t been able to save that first night. Rose and Samantha… Their wide, blank eyes stared at her from the darkness. There were more- him, Cass- no, not Cass, she hadn’t just died, had she?! It was all her fault. She just got people killed. No, no, no, no-

”Trisha, please, snap outta it! We gotta move!” Cass was doing her best, unable to change her body as much as she was used to. One clawed hand, clawed feet and sharp teeth were what she was left with… But the depleted magic and injuries were taking their toll. It was so fucking hard to protect someone like this. Especially when the fucking shadows attacked!

Trisha barely heard her over the static ringing in her ears. She couldn’t see beyond the images her brain was imposing over her vision, aided by the Archserpent’s shadows. She got them killed, she got them all killed. She was going to die here, too, they all were, they couldn’t fight it, not anymore, not with what they had left-

There was a whizzing noise punctuated by the echoing of metal as sparks burst into life like a flint and steel lighting a bonfire. The spiraling umbrella of raven colored hair could almost be mistaken for Casey, or one of the other siblings at first… But as the slender blade of a long, medieval style longsword struggle against the metal-plated scales of the Archserpent, the acrobatic technique of entry was revealed to be a true Lynette Richoux special.

She didn’t look normal, per se. Whatever drugs and magical stimulants that had been on those tables had left her looking swollen, pumped like a steroid-addicted gym rat. She had some kind of apparatus strapped to her face as well, which was totally blocking her eyesight and leaving her almost certainly blind. She didn’t make a sound, no wincing nor sign of struggle as the Archserpent’s armored scales ground against her sword.

Then, as if nothing had kept her held there to begin with, the Archserpent disappeared into the shadows again, snaking off to cause havoc as it desperately attempted to avoid the White Lux user hunting it down. This was one of the few times Lynette couldn’t talk: She was too busy trying to see the immediate future with as much speed and precision as possible.
For most, battle meditation as a skill was a big guessing game: Parse out a hundred million possibilities and play a probability game while processing an active combat situation simultaneously, and you’ve got the basic gist of this technique. It took a truly powerful or, in this case, accurate maestro of predeterminational probability to make it work.

Few people expected such accuracy. Such impactful judgement and decision making. And normally one would be right: Lynette simply didn’t have the concentration. But all the drugs made it so much easier. Here, she was at her best, and therefore was so locked into her meditative stance, that there was no chance to speak. She was dedicating every possible instance of thought to what was coming.
So that when an oncoming group of Undesired dared to press the once-vulnerable position that Trisha and Cass had been in, she only took a solitary second to consider which angle was best before splitting them to the gears.

She killed them so quickly and so thoroughly, the spell inciting their self-destruct sequence had to catch up. Yet, in a moment’s pause, her eyeless masked face stared down at Trisha in an unblinking facade of black satin.
Get to the center! Now! her voice echoed through Trisha’s mind entirely unconcerned with the nearly shattered emotional field protecting her.

Where external sounds hadn’t pierced through the panic, it was impossible for Trisha to miss a voice in her own mind. It didn’t reduce the panic clutching her, but it broke her out of her catatonic state enough to start moving. Her trembling hands rubbed vigorously at her face, trying to wipe away the tears and blood to no avail.

The potent pheromones in the air sucked back in, the bees following to defend rather than attack. It was still so hard to breath, like glass had shattered in her lungs. The dead bodies were still there flickering in her vision. But her survival mechanism- what had saved her every other time- kicked in and had her managing to get to her feet.

”Thank fuck- Let’s go, let’s go!” Cass didn’t hear what Lynette said to Trisha, nor did she bother thanking her in the heat of the moment- there’d be time after! Because that sword thing had been pretty fucking cool… But not right now.

But even without direction, Cass grabbed Trisha’s arm and started pulling her towards the centre of the tents. Where the magical lights shone brightest, and the shadows seemed to be kept at bay.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Trisha’s whispered pleas were barely audible over the fighting, especially as Cass had to focus her senses precisely without so much Lux to pump through her body. She was running of her own accord, but there was still very little control. Intense panic dulled to heavy emptiness and sharp self hatred as the magical lights and flares burned away the images haunting her. But they were still there, in her mind.

Cass was still there, covered in injuries as she pulled Trisha along with the only hand she had left.

The panic attack was by no means over. Just shifted. The bees still didn’t know what to do, trying to sting Cass through hard scales.

Thankfully only a few got through, something Cass could just ignore.
”Don’t be- just stay here with me!”

They were almost at the center now, the path relatively clear- and what few Undesired there were between them were quickly dispatched by Cass and the bees following her attacks to swarm them. Finally reaching a place where they could both hopefully take a breath.

There was a viscous amount of howling as they got closer to the stage. In fact, it was a form of Leon that Cass and Trisha would never have seen before: Rather than some hybrid between man, woman and beast, the monstrosity ripping at and sinking its teeth into the fabric of reality was truly all beast. A massive Canid form, huge bushy tails swinging in several directions to compliment the multiple heads that gnashed and bit and crushed into nothingness. One head seemed to peel back the layers, another diving into the hole, and the third bit directly at whatever wriggled out.

Great paws with claws the size of fork truck tongs pressed into the edges of the hole, ripping it bigger and bigger as jets of hot water blasted into his flanks. Somehow, the massive Aberration was managing to play tug of war against the Archserpent in its own pocket domain… And it looked like he was winning!

As they ascended the platform, they’d be met with rushing waves of Orange and Pink Lux meant to bolster the mind and spirit of any who entered the square. It was a stronghold, and at the head of it was Casey. At some point, the group had stacked the tables, and he stood up on a chair above it all. His arms flicked and twitched, and it became clear that a great deal of the gunfire that was happening was being done through his power alone. Gunlines, like revolutionary soldiers, surrounded the perimeter of the box at mid-height angles, firing at targets all determined by the controller.

To control like this, it took an incredible amount of White Lux. Not so much that he couldn’t do it, just… Not naturally. Probably something he’d have to deal with later, and he was certain Trisha wouldn’t let him live it down. But, it was for the best. Leon could handle the problem: He knew best how to fight them. And Casey knew how to direct and save people. Both were happening, as his sky-eyes utilized two very real lights above the box to act as spotlights, which he’d enchanted to brighten and tighten like prison spotlights.

Mia was the first to see the two of them, and she rushed to Trisha and Cass with her arms out. A couple of “living” bench seats wormed their way up behind her, ready to act as makeshift stretchers should the need arise.

”Oh thank fucking God Cass! Oh fuck, I could kiss you right no-Oh fuck!”
Mia’s face wasn’t a wince so much as it was a full on gag. She’d rarely seen a state of half-healing like that. But, if Cass wasn’t partial to the good shit, even she’d only be able to last so long.

Once everything had started to go crazy, none of the siblings remaining were above huffing down half a shaker worth of Oblivium salts and cracking a nice piece of Glass between their teeth. The true nature of the VIP Box had revealed itself, as looking around, some of the boards were pulled up neatly and crates of gear and supplies were now strewn about them in states of half-empty. Green, red, the chocolate pudding, and half a dozen other iridescent gel packs were available; and people were pulling pit stops from the battle outside to juice up before bouncing back out again.

It was chaos.

”Fuck, Andy!? Doc!? Maybe you should look at this!” Mia called as she tried to move around Cass to see Trisha.
”Sis!? Are you hurt!?”

“I’m fine.” Trisha said, voice incredibly quiet. The wave of Pink and Orange was enough to dampen her panic, but not enough for positivity of any form to replace it. Just emptiness and clear thoughts- which only went down towards how awful she was. How she’d put Cass into danger- and been useless.

It wasn’t possible for Mia to get close to Trisha. Not because she made any particular moves away, but her bees were covering her body completely. Princess hovered right behind her, just as covered in buzzing bees.

”I’m fine too! It ain’t as bad as it looks! It’s all, like, totally healed to the point I ain’t gonna bleed out. Soon as my magic replenishes in a couple’ve days I’ll be all good!” Cass said with far more energy than someone as wounded as her should have. She shuffled further into the box, letting go of Trisha’s arm and finally being free from bees trying to sting her.

”Good God, woman! Are you hollow? Did it carve you out like a mountain? Jesus Almighty, at least finish your fuckin’ meal, Cass!” Andy snapped as she pressed her way toward Cass with a bag of something mixed up in her hands.
”You and I both know you can fix this, but if you let it wait too long, there’s complications- And we’re gonna need all the energy we can get for any other wounded soon! So fucking suck the bag!”

Casey had only a brief moment to split his concentration and look back down at the area he knew to be safe. He could see Cass and Trisha after having lost sight of them when directing Lynette. She’d been lost in a trance at this point, and he could only hope she was driving the vestigial coils of the Archserpent toward Lelou’s gaping maw…
Conveniently, Andrade had made himself scarce, thus the sealing of such a beast could only be done in a primal fashion. In a final act of desperation, the Archserpent splayed its torso in full, arms unbuckling from its ribcage in shadowy masses to try and reverse the flow of swallowing. To try and oroborous itself while sucking Lelou down into nothingness in the process.

A life for a mad, insane existence.

But just as quickly as it had all started, so too did it end: The mistake of leaving itself open in desperation was just that. A desperate mistake played by a fool. Both front paws of the giant wolf slipped up, powerful hind quarters bearing the weight of the beast within, and planted themselves on either side of the wide open ribcage.
With one singular flex, Lelou ripped the entirety of the Archserpent’s upper torso apart. She splayed it like a spatchcocked turkey, pinning it to grounded reality and beginning to devour it from the inside.

Around them, the illusion faded. The shadows all around them melted into reality as the screaming crowds outside were once more able to reunite with the remaining living who had been trapped inside. But as light flooded back all around them, it was clear that there were few happy endings left.
What bodies hadn’t been ripped apart by the shadow serpents and remaining Undesired had been torn apart by the many spells and hailing magical bullets that had secured the area to begin with.

Outer perimeter security had at least done their own job, and secured the perimeter as intended. The few Undesired that escaped confines had been handled, and the only thing that was left to deal with was the massive wolf Apparition consuming the equally massive snake Apparition in the middle of the event space.
Casey didn’t waste any more time than he had to in dropping every spell he had and rushing down to Trisha like she was the only thing on the planet. The truth was, he couldn’t look at the scene outside that box any more than she could. None of it was okay.

No. He didn’t want to be here. And he was desperately praying that his guardian angel was still alive to uphold her end of the bargain. A pulse of White Magic wriggled its way across the entire place, hitting a small signal in the outside crowd. In an automatic response, a hole opened up below the two of them just as Casey dropped to his knees and hugged around her.
The speed at which they fell was rapid, like they were being dragged through the floor until they were in their dark, quiet apartment again placed softly on the wooden floor by the front door.

And then they were suddenly alone. Thank God they were alone… Save for the absolutely hellish torrent of bees reflecting in and out of itself as Princess managed to wriggle itself through the hole with a massive swarm behind it. It was like being consumed by a jet engine…

The sudden darkness, even natural in a familiar setting, was enough for Trisha’s panic to start climbing again. There was no more Pink Lux to keep all the emotions at bay, and they crashed back into her. The massive swarm of bees responded with confused buzzing, starting to crawl across Trisha and Casey where he held her.

Thankfully, they still recognised his smell and all the pheromones she constantly soaked him in. Enough to not start stinging him like they had Cass.

She gripped onto his shoulders, managing to push through the ice cold grip enough to call them off. The bees detached and moved up to the roof plants, buzzing still filling the air.

There was momentary relief that Casey was alright and alive. But then, the residual fear took full hold and everything else that had followed it. Her disgust at herself for panicking, still panicking when she’d made it out just fine. But she hadn’t deserved to… Someone else’s blood was shed in her place.

She’d panicked and broken- far worse than she ever had before. During the Stygian Snake years everything was driven by survival. There were plenty of panic attacks in the moments they weren’t fighting, but freezing up meant she was as good as dead. Since… She thought she was fine. She had been fine! Until she saw it again.

They’d known to use flares and light. Just like Leon had told them to ten years ago. He’d known…

“Why…” Trisha whispered, voice hoarse. She coughed, throat sore and dry from harsh breathing and blood running down it from her nose. The tears that had only briefly stopped were flowing again. Her look down at him was incredibly raw, filled with all the harsh emotions she felt weighing on her. Continued panic and horror, despair, self-disgust, and a slowly encroaching anger. She couldn’t hide any of it as her body trembled, breathing growing harsh again. But she managed to push quiet words through it.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You- You knew it’d be that, didn’t you? I- I- Cass almost died. It was my fault… cause I didn’t know.”

He almost didn’t hear her. And he certainly didn’t want to reply with any kind of negative response. What he really wanted, and had prayed for, was that dearest Trisha wouldn’t have the energy to be upset. No such luck. But just like she was having a hard time as the influence of all that Pink Lux faded, so was he. And just like Trisha, Casey had been dealing with his own moment of past-to-present anxiety. Had Harietta not been so close by, and had he not been more than willing to slurp down a cocktail of the Temple’s finest Oblivium suspensions, he probably would’ve succumbed to it just like she had.

But nothing prepared him for feeling actual anger at her response.

”What… the fuck are you asking me right now, Trisha? Are you serious?” he asked quietly, almost too calmly in response to what she’d said.

The truth was, he couldn’t fathom it. He couldn’t fathom that she was somehow bringing all of what had just happened back to herself. Not even the blame for it all either; just the sheer tragedy of the situation, and everything he was feeling in that moment. He probably should have been yelling. But the Glass made his mind sharp in spite of the grief.

Trisha reactively flinched, breath catching in her throat. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. An apology? Some clear emotion, even if it was negative? But of course. He was probably disappointed in her too. Because it was her fault she’d been out of the safe area, and her fault she’d frozen up.

“I’m- I’m asking why you didn’t tell me about something that would’ve stopped me being a liability!” She managed to choke out, a light citrus scent filling the air as her panic flared and her pheromones with it. Not enough to get through any Emotional Field with her mental state, but they were there.

Her panic and agitation was raw, the natural shadows around them seeming to flicker in her vision. All the dead- real and past. Why had she deserved saving?
“Cass got her- her arm ripped off. She should’ve died and I- I- wouldn’t have been so useless if I knew.”

”You are a fucking priority, not a liability. You can fucking afford not knowing everything, Trisha! I have your fucking back!” Casey huffed, practically wheezed, his response into life.

The way he saw things, Trisha could only be a liability acting like this. Like a child. Like she was the only one who mattered, and that she’d have made so much of a difference.

”God damn it all, Trisha, I fucking love you! But people are fucking dead! There’s gotta be hundreds of casualties, and you want to ask me why I didn’t inform you better like it would’ve made much of a difference? This isn’t asinine, it’s ghoulish!”

“I know I’m useless, Casey! But- But Cass could’ve helped other people, she wouldn’t have wasted so much magic in a fucking explosion, she’s actually strong enough to help!” Trisha wasn’t shouting, because she didn’t have the breath to. Everything came out in short, sharp bites.

She started trying to wriggle away from him, finding it easier now that he wasn’t holding her as tightly. She didn’t want to be near him, to feel the disgust towards her practically radiating off him and feeding into her own.

“She could’ve saved people that actually deserved it… Should’ve anyway!”

”We saved everyone we could! Stop-”

As if taking his own advice, as she tried to wriggle away, Casey drew back and took as deep a breath as he could before his eyes started to well up.

”-I mean… What the fuck? No ’Thank God we made it!’ or anything? Not a single iota of gratitude that we managed to get anyone out alive? No big fucking hug or affection? You just go straight for the jugular, don’t you Trisha?!” he snapped again.

How was she supposed to do any of that when panic was gripping her so tightly? She felt so much disdain towards herself, she struggled to feel grateful towards something she didn’t feel she deserved right now. Maybe that was why she was arguing with Casey now- hurting him to hurt herself.

“I’m sorry! I’m fucking sorry!” The way it came out didn’t sound apologetic at all, or any less harsh that how she’d been speaking before.
“I- I don’t choose my emotions! I’m sorry, I don’t fucking deserve- You don’t- I- I- Fuck, just- just- can we please turn on the fucking lights?!”

He had to accept that at least. He smacked his fist off the floor of the room and let the shockwave of Orange Lux rock across the house until each and every light came on in succession. Suddenly, they were in a world of light again, and Casey’s arms were open. He was still on his knees, scooting forward toward her slightly. Bit by bit.

”There! There, it’s okay, Trisha! Just, come here, Baby! Please, don’t let it be like this! I love you!” he pleaded to her, holding his arms up toward her.
”Nothing’s gonna hurt you now!”

Trisha sniffed, trying to wipe away her tears as she trembled and hesitated. The light banished the panic inducing shadows, leaving heavy guilt in its wake. But Casey didn’t deserve to be punished for that…

“I’m- I'm not only worried about myself.” She whispered, shuffling forward before crouching to bundle herself into his arms.
“It’s others too! I- I always get people killed, Casey! I don’t want to… But it keeps happening. Even when I try. I’m- I’m no better than I was ten years ago. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should’ve kept it all in. I love you, I’m sorry.”

”Baby, you’re not fuckin’ hearing me!” he breathily asserted, lowering the volume of his voice to avoid sounding like he was snapping at her.

But his grasp on her, his hold, was shaking. His entire body was shaking as the adrenaline in his system was left with nothing to circulate toward. No goals, no necessity. It was driving his biochemical reserves into the ground. Trying not to make it too obvious, he cracked the capsule he was keeping tucked between his lip and gums, letting the anti-magic substance race through his bloodstream. The Lux-laden compounds bind to chemical receptors, restricting the flow of Lux-laden chemicals through the brain.

He wanted to come down. He wanted it to be over. There was no patience when the woman in his arms was who he had to satisfy and protect. She was everything to him, and all he wanted was to convey himself to her. But everything was collapsing. He had to get it out now, before everything was gone.

”Some people are not meant to fight wars! Defending yourself? That’s one thing: Everyone always feels comfortable defending themselves. There’s nothing else on the line! But damn this entire world if you think for a second that I’m going to let you think that the people who are meant for that kind of thing aren’t willing to fucking die for people who aren’t. It’s not a fucking choice, just like how you feel about shit isn’t a fucking choice!”

Ultimately, it was her ego. It gnashed and clawed and ripped at the presence of acknowledgement in any shape it could grasp, because all her life had been spent being told to suppress that. And, now he was doing it too. He wasn’t telling her to be different, nor to suppress what she was feeling.

But he was telling her it was wrong. Outwardly so, in a manner he couldn’t take back. So, why try?

”I couldn’t fucking get to you! I was trying to keep that fucking box secure! You didn’t fucking see them all! You only saw what was in front of you, and that was fucking enough! It was me who directed Cass toward you. I put her on that fucking track because I wasn’t strong enough to do it my goddamn self! And I should’ve sent more, because maybe Cass wouldn’t be fucking hurt! There! Isn’t it easy for us to redirect blame onto ourselves because we’re fucking hurt!?” he snapped, tears starting to stream down his face as images of places full of bodies flooded back to him.

”You can’t fucking account for everything! You can’t! You get sent into a fucking hellscape with no information, or fucking bad information, and people just get slaughtered! Dead! Gone! It fucking happens, and rather than loving me like I want to love you, it’s immediate fucking accusations! Yeah! I didn’t fucking tell you, because my point fucking stands! My Mother saw the fucking future, and she couldn’t organize anyone well enough to prevent that shit!” he seethed, his hands flattening out and purposefully avoiding tensing up so she didn’t feel any unwarranted aggression.

Trisha bit down on her lip hard, trying to clamp down on the reactive snapping. She didn't want to fight, she just wanted him to see. To understand what she was saying and feeling. But he wasn't going to. And she was making it all about herself. She shouldn't. She should just suppress it all… because she was wrong. She knew that, he'd told her that, and she hated it. Wrong for existing as she did and feeling like she did… Always.

The normal gut reaction was quenched as she trembled silently against him. Panic was still there, but it was being overwhelmed by all that aggression turning inwards and pushing her towards despondency.

“I know I'm not a soldier. I know. But I'm a survivor, I- I survived against the Snake before. I know what it's like! I've see it, we never had enough, most of us died- but I didn't… I didn't freeze up like that in the moment I…" She bit down on her lip again, shaking her head.
“It doesn't matter. You're right. I don't understand. You did everything you could. Sorry. I didn't need to know, it wouldn't have helped, I'm sorry for making it all about me. Sorry."

Casey’s fingers bent. All ten curled slightly, betraying every bit of pained anxiety trapped in his mind.

”There’s… Just a lot more, Trisha. For once, you literally can’t be the only thing on my mind… But you were. You were every single second that something was happening, and I could ignore it all because I knew you were out there. But once I saw you were safe? That was it… And I ran. And we’re here now, because every bit of me screamed to get the fuck out. I haven’t done everything I could, Trisha. Not even fucking close. I can’t even comfort you like you need to be comforted, because I keep fucking hoping and praying that for once something will go my way and it hasn’t!”

He didn’t want to look at her face. He just buried his head in her neck and began to sob.

”I know I was wrong, and we’ll fucking get there! But god dammit, Trisha, just… Fucking cry for once! If neither of us are doing good, then just fucking sit here with me and be together… Let’s forget for five fucking seconds…” he pleaded through heady sobs.

Trisha nodded, curling her head forward towards his. Her arms wrapped around Casey, hands gripping onto his back. She wasn't crying like he was. All of the extreme, all consuming emotion had happened during her panic attack, then when they got back. Now it was all draining away.

But she still hugged him with a tightness that didn't betray the despondency that was digging its claws into her. She shouldn't have said. Because this was what always happened when she brought up her feelings. She hurt people, and then they left her. He wasn't leaving yet… but she couldn't let him. She'd gotten too comfortable with just letting it out, but she shouldn't have! Not- not that she could always control it. But she had to try.

“I know." She whispered, closing her eyes and clinging to him.
“I shouldn't have said. I should've waited. I'm sorry, I knew it would hurt you but I still did, I should've waited till we were both better. I was so caught up in my feelings I only thought about myself. I- I was wrong to. I won't talk about it anymore. Not until you feel better. I love you, I swear, I really do, I won't do it again. I'll try not to… I'm here… I love you…"

She didn't know how to actually comfort him beyond hugging into him, and admitting she was wrong. She didn't even know how to help herself. But he just asked to be with her. She could do that, it was the least she could do. Anything he wanted… Maybe then he wouldn't realise how she really wasn't worth dealing with when his mind was clearer.

---

The night was full of quiet after that. Mostly the sound of one or another having a breakdown, punctuated at first by the dull vibration of Casey and Trisha's phones. People calling to check on them. At one point in the middle of the night, Casey's hall sensors went off, forcing him into coherence long enough to reset them and ward off those who were coming up to check on them. Thankfully, they were satisfied when they saw the lights of the house blazing, and nobody really bothered them for the time being.

Casey had presumed that there would be big issues for his reticence. But, even Lynette had the wherewithal to stop by. Even if she didn't come up to check on her son and future daughter-in-law, Casey felt her magic crawling up to the edge of his emotional field. There were no insults or breaching questions. Just tender care, and vague anxiety to remain somewhat separate.
But then, after all that, it was completely quiet. Casey knew she wasn't going to sleep, and he couldn't either. But the E-Vac pill he took had at least left him feeling less like a slab of mourning and more like a statue of marble.

The sun was coming up to wash away the dark. But he knew he couldn't shut all the lights off. He'd been staring at her back for almost an hour now, knowing that on the other side, she was stark awake and breathing just like him. Thinking about everything wrong.

And finally, he reached out. Casey's fingers gently fueled against Trisha's shirt, and tugged ever so slightly. He couldn't feel anything emotionally. It was all numb. But he knew that he loved her.

”You're everything to me…” he said quietly in the off chance she was sleeping.
”Everything. I can't live without you now. Please be real…” he pleaded almost silently, not entirely sure he was actually still alive to begin with.

Trisha wasn't asleep. She couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes the shadows began to flicker across her vision. Then, images of the long dead and other horrors. So she couldn't. The nightmare of the waking mind was better. Spiralling further and further. She regretted how she'd reacted when they got back. All the times she'd snapped at him earlier in the day too.

It kept happening. How long would he be able to stay based on promises of improvement she wasn't confident would come? They probably wouldn't. She wasn't that strong. She was someone who failed over and over again. Worthless.

But Casey was still there. She could hear his breathing. He hadn't left. Yet.

At the gentle tug she startled, surprised by his movement after such a long period of silent stillness. She shuffled back towards him, before flipping around to face her. There wasn't any more hesitation as she buried herself against him.

“I’m real." Trisha whispered.
“You don't need to live without me. Ever. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

What little emotional energy she had she channeled towards comforting him. It was the least she deserved. She had too, anyway. She had to prove that she could help him. It wasn't just him being there for her, it wasn't unequal, she could support him. She had to try to be better. Even if she’d fail in the end… she couldn't leave him.

“I’m real, Casey." She pulled back a bit, hands reaching up to hold his face. Her expression was blanker than normal- more tired, despondent- but her love for him still managed to push through. Even in the darkest places it was there.
“See. I'm with you."

The rising sun would never shine through their windows. The entire apartment faced the sea, and they’d only ever share sunsets from this bed. At least there was nothing beautiful to miss. He could focus. His arms held onto Trisha for dear life as Casey took a deep, rattling breath.

”I made mistakes. I’m constantly making mistakes.” he started, taking a deep breath.
”I like to think one day I’ll stop making them. But often enough, its the same mistake. The same bad choice. Like, thinking something won’t be relevant, or won’t be important. Or, fuck, it may stress you out- clearly it doesn’t matter. But I don’t know what to fucking do, Trisha. I don’t know what to do to make it all better…” he quietly groaned, not sure of where he was going, and knowing he had to leave it there before he ramped things up too quickly.

Trisha shook her head. She wanted him to tell her things, because she wanted him to trust her, but how could he when she always reacted the same way. Wasn't that the root cause? It was normal to have some secrets. She was the one who got so triggered by it. Because of everything that had happened before… even though she was so closed off. Hypocritical.

But if she brought it all back on herself, then he'd get upset again. She couldn't do that.

“I keep making the same mistake too. I assume the worst thing." She said quietly, any emotion dampened. Maybe there'd been enough time for her to calm down. Or maybe she'd fallen so far down she didn't see a way back up yet.
“We… I don't know… We keep working on it together? And we- we accept that we both make bad choices sometimes? Because we love each other and when you love someone you- you react more, don't you?"

He didn’t respond to that concept immediately, rather hugging her closer.
”But I keep… Lying. And withholding. And promising you that things will be different soon, but how can I make that promise and then keep… Doing this. I can’t keep doing this to you, Trisha. I just fucking can’t… I feel like a fucking idiot. Like, fuck, I don’t even know for certain how you’ll react to things. I just assume its bad and leave things as they are. I never ask. I never consider. I just do what I think will protect you, and it’s so fucking dumb…”

If nothing else, he could absolutely nail himself to the cross over his behavior. Noble or not, he felt like a liar… And Casey Richoux wasn’t a liar. He’d never liked liars… Until he realized his life was full of them. Then, suddenly, it seemed a whole lot more appealing. It was the exact kind of behavior he’d left to escape. And now he was here, and it was still so damn natural.

”And all this over a fucking… No. No, see, that’s… Where we’ve gotta stop. The attack didn’t happen because I withheld the information from you. I can’t feel like it’s my fault, and you can’t feel like its your fault. That shit would’ve happened. It would’ve happened whether you were with Sycamore or not, because… It was just set up to happen. We couldn’t avoid Dollhouse striking out at us. We couldn’t…” he grimaced.

Dollhouse… It was a name Trisha vaguely knew. From her time in the Elite, rare moments where she actually looked over the information they'd bought. A Miami group, some presence here. But not enough that anyone in the Elite was worried. Then again, nothing worried Blake. The others didn't bother voicing their concerns to anyone but their kin. Maybe some were working with them.

“They’re… behind the murders?" She asked just to mentally confirm it herself more than anything.
“It’s- it's definitely not our fault… If they wanted just you or me they would've done it before. It was the Temple right, but- but-"

She shook her head, cutting off her panic as memories of more documents filled her mind. Information about the group being dangerous- more mafia than coven, at least. But the Temple was dangerous too. Plenty of groups in the city were dangerous. It was fine. No more scary knowing who it was who'd killed so many of her former covenmates that it had been not knowing.

“I… Don't care who it was. I don't care if you keep hiding things and I keep getting upset about it, because I can handle it as long as it's us. Even- even if we have to deal with more stuff like that. I'll be stronger. It just has to be us, whoever's trying to kill us." She bit her lip, hiding her face against him. Great job at not making it about her and keeping it all in…

It didn't matter if she didn't entirely believe what she said. She didn't think the attack was her fault. She wasn't the only Sycamore member present, anyway. But Cass getting hurt? That wasted resource? It still weighed on her. But she could pretend she wasn't still stuck in a mire of self doubt.
“It really wasn't our fault… You’re right… I'm sorry for lashing out last night."

”I love you… Stop apologizing… You deserve to have your time, Trisha. You deserve to be angry. I’m just… I saw everything. All the shit I never wanted to see again. I can deal with… With it being hallways. One, two people… The drugs make it so much easier. Not like in the military, where we had to see everything raw. But… It’s all stuck there now. I’m in fucking agony, and I… I feel like a failure. Because I knew I wouldn’t be able to comfort you, and rather than try, I just… Pushed you away.”

He was more than willing to spill everything he’d had the time to think about. But, it wasn’t going to stop being a problem for a few weeks at least. He needed time to decompress, and debrief. He had to know that the big problems, the new exposures, the people who may’ve kindled… And all the dead innocents… Were taken care of and put in their proper place.

”I… I… Didn’t even hear the end of Mom’s speech. They didn’t attack until they saw Leon on stage. Then, I was separated from everyone. I didn’t know where the fuck you were, I didn’t know where Leon was. Thank God I had the blade with me, otherwise I’d… Be real hurt. I’d never let them kill me… Not before I got back to you.” he curled into her in the same way she tried to curl into him. Suddenly, they were two shrimp with their heads bumped together.

Trisha bit down another apology was something she felt was her fault. She’d stopped him listening to Lynette because she was upset at him. But he’d said to stop apologising, so she should. For now. She even managed to catch and stop the fizzling reaction when he mentioned drugs. She… knew about them. She could understand taking them in this situation. Just about. As long as it was only this situation.

She could be supportive. She really could.
“I feel the same about Princess. If I hadn’t brought her… The bees wouldn’t reach me fast enough.” Though if she didn’t have Princess, she would have brought a group of bees with her. She only didn’t because she knew she could call them so quickly.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.” After some head bumping, Trisha managed to embrace their joint shrimp status, legs curling right up against her chest so they could slot together. Her forehead rested on his… Though it was a little difficult to look into his eyes still.

“I don’t think you’re a failure. I… thought you looked cool… When I got to the box. It just got lost in all my other thoughts then. I- I know that doesn’t fix anything. We still both… saw stuff we didn’t want to see again…” She didn’t want to keep thinking about it, even though it was there at the surface of her mind. Constantly intruding.

“But we’re safe.” If only that was enough to push away the guilt and lowness dragging her down.
“I can’t live without you either.”

”We… Found them. Everything. Leon, the others. Greyson’s dying. They’re gonna use him to bait out Dollhouse. Hopefully put an end to this bullshit, so we can at least feel good about you being safe… I’m asking you now if you want to be involved. If you feel like you should be with your Coven when the end comes. I… I would like to be. To make sure it goes smoothly as it can. Especially now… Because we deserve revenge. To take back our agency.” he intoned quietly, looking a little distant before refixing his gaze on her.

”But, I’ll do whatever you want… And that’s as honest as I can be.”

Trisha didn’t feel like Sycamore was her coven. It had been once. But they didn’t want her, and she cut all ties when it ended. They’d never wanted her… But they needed every member for a while. And she was never quite bad enough she got kicked out. Maybe they just didn’t care enough to.

But she wanted to be with Casey. And she didn’t want to keep him from something he wanted to be at because of her selfish feelings. It wasn’t like she hated all of them. How many would show, anyway? Couldn’t be many.

“I… can’t say I really want to when it involves Sycamore so heavily. But I should be there. With you, not them. They’re not really my coven anymore.” It was close enough to the truth. She wasn’t lying about feeling like she should, nor was she saying she wanted to. Just that she would. It didn’t matter that she agreed because he wanted to, did it?

“Maybe at a distance. I don’t know… We’ll figure it out. So long as it’s finally sorted. I honestly… didn’t expect it to be. Because we only ever worked together when the threat was right there, knife at our throat.” She admitted flatly. The implication that came with what she said- that she’d expected and accepted the killer would get her eventually- went unsaid. She sort of had. Had also hoped being with Casey would just keep the threat away.

“I guess some people managed to pull their weight.” But not her. She probably did everyone a favour by not returning, anyway.

”Then we’ll sort it out… But I’m… I’m not lying anymore. Im not hiding anything. I’ll fucking deal with you being anxious, and if you like it less than being kept in the dark, we’ll find a happy medium. And, then, once everything is taken care of, we won’t need to worry anymore. We’ll get a house, move far away, and disappear.” he shook his head.

”I’m not even sure it’s everyone involved in the plan. Some people- Greyson, and Linqian, mostly, are supposed to be pushing things along. If I’m being honest, uh… Well, I’m certain Greyson was a mole. Like Andrade was to us. Yet, now… We’ve got to trust the two ex-moles to make a plan come together. Maybe you can understand why I’m so tense over it in that context.” he explained.

“Andrade was a mole?” Trisha’s eyes started to widen, her breath catching in her throat. She didn’t even get a chance to tell him she was glad he wasn’t going to be lying before getting anxious just like he’d predicted.

Greyson wasn’t a surprise to her. It was obvious how much he hated them when they kicked him out. And he was a scumbag. The fact he’d seemingly changed surprised her more- and the Linqian was one of the people pushing things. Then again, her precious brother had been killed…

But Andrade? He’d been so… warm. He was close to Casey. He made all of his bread! He was in business with her! The whole time, he’d been leaking information? He’d been part of the organisation that wanted her dead? Had… wanted it too?

She’d started to trust him, as much as she ever could anyone within the Temple that wasn’t Leon, Elise and the girls. She shouldn’t have let herself… And if it was a shock to her, it must’ve been worse for Casey.

“I… I understand. I do. That’s… hard to do…” Hard to trust that it would work, and they wouldn’t end up- well, what? Dead, probably.
“Has he been… this whole time?”

Casey sighed deeply.

”When Dad found him, he never had anything to say about his family. He just… Stuck around. So, no. I don’t. He’d been around way too long. We… Didn’t ask. I don’t think Leon or I wanted to know. But, we’re trusting that his current attitude is genuine because of that.” he admitted calmly, thinking about how Andrade had been so reticent and remorseful when he’d been confronted. It wasn’t like him…

”But, it turns out, the asshole in charge is his twin brother. Their relationship is… The reason that the Temple’s been working with Greyson to begin with. That started a couple years ago. But, it turns out, our biggest material buyer has been Dollhouse the entire time.” he cleared his throat.

“O-Oh.” It was a lot of information for her to process all at once, especially when she was struggling to just pretend to be functioning right now. But she’d wanted to know. It wasn’t his fault the pull of that rare depressive low meant she really just wanted to stick her head in the sand, and had to really push to process it all.

“So the Temple was always involved. In that- I mean, like we- Sycamore- were. Maybe not quite the same… Sorry, it’s a lot. They were really everywhere.” She bit her lip, struggling with what to say that wasn’t jumbled or panicked. Because Casey seemed calm, at least.

“If you trust him… I trust you. That… can’t have been easy for you to find out, right? I couldn’t comfort you then but… I can now? Because that’s a big involvement from someone you’re close to.”

Casey was about to deny her the opportunity when his brain hitched onto a concept and stopped dead. He had no feelings about it at this point: Couldn’t. Not until they knew what was coming next. Not until the problems that Andrade was a part of were taken care of. Yet, he couldn’t take this chance away from her. He could see and feel what she was trying to do. She was trying to act strong. And, that was good. He felt comfortable about that…

So, he tucked his head a little more and pressed it against her chest. Casey knew what had to be done… He wouldn’t lie, but he didn’t have to act like he couldn’t see the right path just to protect the sanctity of the agreement. If there was something simple he thought could exist, that would make her feel better? He’d do it.

”I’m… Grateful to you. That you’re willing to listen. It’s hard, because if Andrade comes through with what he says, then there’s no way for me to hate him. But, honestly, I feel like a moron. I’m putting my trust in someone who’s been undercover for at least a couple of years now! Every part of me wants to break everything off and just run, but… I have to be courageous. Because it’s ultimately your problem, and that makes it very much my problem. I’ll never let anything happen to you.” he admitted, trying to let every suppressed feeling bubble up, just so Trisha had something to mow the proverbial lawn over.

Trisha hadn’t expected him to spill so much. She gently nuzzled her face against the top of his head as he spoke, trying her best to think of something to say that wasn’t just agreement. Because it was crazy to put his- their- trust in someone like that. But what other choice did they have? At least, she didn’t have a choice. She was tied to any Dollhouse plan thanks to being a former Sycamore member.

“I… Honestly, if we could, I’d want to run away too. But we can’t because of me so… I’m really glad you’re staying with me and love me that much. I think… It's really impressive that you can trust him. You’re giving all of us a chance because of it, aren’t you? Most people wouldn’t be able to step back… They’d already hate him. So… I don’t think you’re a moron. You’re doing what you think will work.” She pressed a kiss against the top of his head, closing her eyes for a moment. If things didn’t work out in the end, and the worst- whatever that was, presumably involving the Stygian Snake- happened? At least they’d die together.

Casey didn’t know what Trisha had in her mind exactly, but he quietly smiled and shook his head against her kiss. He’d not say it either, but… Thank God they’d die together.

”You’ve seen how things get when I do what I feel will work. You end up feeling hurt, and like I don’t trust you. There hasn’t been anything I’ve felt like I’ve done well regarding how I’ve handled all of this. Like, uh… Besides you. Getting together with you was probably the last good decision I’ve made in a while.” he admitted to her, chuckling to himself.

It wasn’t entirely true, but it was the last island decision. The last port the ship had rolled into that wasn’t attached to a floatsome barge or some kind of ship graveyard. The port was solid, the boat got repaired, there was time to breathe… It was a good choice. But everything since then had been rocky. Rough sailing, choppy water. Unknown territory. Places he’d never been, things he’d never done.

”I love you so much… It’s so fucking hard. I don’t want to make these decisions. That’s why I didn’t take the fucking promotion. God forbid another war came up and I was career Brass! I’d probably fucking hang myself knowing I was sending young men to fucking die! And, my God, the fucking… I don’t even know about my Cousins! My family! My whole fucking… I’m… I just don’t fucking want to do this, Trisha! I really don’t want these responsibilities! But it’ll put us in the best position we can be in for when it all falls down!”

He cleared his throat again, finally tilting his head and looking up at her with tears again.

”And it’s my fault for being selfish… For… Not wanting to deal with you. When you’re stressed like that, it makes… It gets more difficult for me to deal with things when I know you’re stressed. Even if you lie to me, I’ll just assume you’re not good. It’s not because I don’t believe you, it’s a disconnect between my time in the service, and my time outside of it. And it’s a complete disservice to you. You don’t fucking deserve my worst. You deserve my best, and I’m struggling so hard to have the chance to give it to you… And I feel like a dog for it.”

“But you hardly get my best. You get my worst all the time… How does that make me deserve only your best?” Trisha questioned back, managing to stop herself from just straight up telling him she didn’t deserve that. But she wanted him to see that… it was a two way street! They both dealt with each other.

Even if it was hard to hear that he didn’t want to deal with her like that. Of course it made things more difficult for him, of course he assumed… Because the assumptions had been correct so often in the past month. She had to do better at hiding it, at least. So she didn’t put so much stress on him.

“We’re going to be together a long time… We’re going to see a lot of bests and worsts! Hopefully… there’ll be more bests in the future. When it’s all done and you don’t have everything on your shoulders, I- I don’t want you to carry it all alone, Casey. Because you’re doing it for us but… If this has been your worst? Even if it’s just a fraction of it? It’s never going to make me stop loving you.” She managed to dredge up enough emotion to sound confident towards the end. Because that was one thing she did believe, even if she doubted so many other things.

Nothing Casey had shown her was intolerable. All of the good outweighed any bad. He treated her better than anyone ever had in her life… And then still felt bad for it.

”God I hope that’s really the fucking case, Trisha… Because all I want is to do better. And lead by example, rather than the bullshit of planning and pushing and directing these people beneath me to be just as incompetent as they can be without collapsing their jobs. I’m filtering and funneling everything they do back up to Mom so she can’t ever pin down anything specific. It’s the most nerve wracking game of chess I’ve ever played.” he tried to explain his circumstance, not sure if she’d be able to really pick it up at all.

”I just want things to be fucking… Quiet. Finally quiet. No reason for you to worry, and no reason to be worried in turn. And I know it’ll happen, it’s just a matter of fucking when. The answer is soon… But soon is so fucking abstract, I can’t keep telling you soon and expect you to trust me! But, you’re insistent that you do! So, I… I won’t fucking fight you on that! But, even you can admit that it’s stressful!” he asserted, frowning.

”I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me anything, just like you don’t want to feel that way… So, don’t hold back.”

“I do trust you… it is stressful, but I’ve never really had hope for a future before you. I can wait however long. Stressed is better than…” How she got the longer she was alone. The days that blended into each other, the struggle to motivate herself to do anything because it all felt so pointless. Until anxiety kicked her out of bed and towards attempted socialisation, and the next partner.

It was harder to accept that she could tell him anything when he’d already snapped at her earlier. She knew deep down it was the circumstances… But it was always so hard for her. Baby steps forward didn’t get her that far from the cliff’s edge behind her.

What did she even have to say right now? Admit that she could feel her mood was low in a way he hadn’t experienced before? Easier for her to hide, but lingering. Depression like… but she didn’t have depression. It was never that bad. But what did she even say? It wasn’t really explainable.

She couldn’t say nothing, because then he’d worry just as much as he might if she spilled something incredibly heavy. An explanation, maybe?

“Earlier, I was… Well, this probably sounds like nothing compared to what you saw but… Before I first joined the Coven I was at the mall with friends. It’s a common story but… it wasn’t the Archserpent. Something similar, but not as powerful. Loads of shadows, and they- my friends were torn apart and devoured by them. I couldn’t do anything. I just wasn’t strong enough. I was only fourteen- they were too. That’s why I reacted how I did.” While there was stuttering here and there, she spoke relatively evenly. Detached in that moment. The severe panic attack had been had, and without the current external triggers it was easier to… suppress the feelings. Like it wasn’t her experience.

Casey took a deep breath doing his best not to immediately snap back into redirection mode. It was a true instinct, and even if she didn’t have a problem with it, other people certainly did. It was that built in Richoux complex; that they simply had to convince everyone else that they were right no matter what. It wasn’t always true. It wasn’t even mostly true. He had to hand it to Leon for breaking things apart in that sector. He’d really busted up his ego, and learned to take a back seat in arguments.

But he didn’t want her to escape their connection. Not when he knew that what he said was unfair.

”People who aren’t meant to fight get put into situations where they’re forced to see shit like that. There’s nothing wrong with… With not being strong enough. Y’think I’m gonna be tough enough to go eat-”
He paused, catching his breath for a moment.
”-y’know… Red meat? After this? No fucking way. Because it’s traumatic. It’s horrifying. Thinking about it makes me feel ill. Why? Because I saw some things I never should have. And so did you, Trisha. You saw shit that a young woman should never ever have to see… But, do you realize we have the same kind of scar? The same deep psychological wounds?”

He untucked his hands, bringing them up to cup her face.

”You think I don’t notice how you get with all the lights out? How sometimes you’ll leave your phone screen on next to your face when you go to sleep? It’s stuck with you forever… And I won’t ignore it now. You’ve gone through senseless Hell, because the Paranormal adults of this city were selfish, cruel and unusual individuals who allowed you to experience it. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right. And we’ll take back that agency. Together.” he asserted.

Trisha nodded very slowly, cheeks rubbing against his hands. She wasn't sure how they'd take back agency over past traumatic events. How was it not that same as just getting over it? But he said it so confidently… she had to believe it.

“Together." She echoed quietly.

“When everything first started, I thought there weren't many Paranormal adults. I didn't know any… My dad was, but I didn't find out until right before he was killed how involved he was. Guess he doesn't get shittiest adult in the world, since he wasn't alive to leave a bunch of teenagers to fight it." She let out a quiet, hollow laugh.
“It wasn't until I really talked to more Adepts… whose family was alive but not doing anything… that I realised it was unfair."

Though she hadn't realised her reaction to the dark was so obvious. It was dampened when she wasn't alone, so she always thought she hid it well. There were plenty of easy excuses for the phone thing that no one had ever questioned. Then again, Casey had a habit of noticing things others didn't. She didn't even think it was that bad. Sometimes the darkness didn't bother her. Others, it was worse. But it wasn't really that same as what Casey dealt with, was it?

“But it's… we don't really have the same kind of scar, do we? You were a soldier, you fought in a horrible war for years, you- you have proper PTSD, right? I just experienced a few traumatic events, and have some lingering anxiety… it isn't really the same, is it?" She asked genuinely, expecting him to realise and agree. It wasn't even downplaying her own experience so much as it was genuinely believing she wasn't that badly affected. Putting aside the severe panic attack during the fight… Being a little scared of the dark wasn't much worse than how she'd been before. It was just normal for her.

”Trisha, my mind was affected in spite of conditioning. Im lucky to only deal what I deal with because of that. But, I mean, think about war. Think about how, y'know, like… Like, the war went on for years for me! But, for a lot of civilians? The war came and went. A day, a week, at worst a month. But it left their homes devastated. Families broken. Minds shattered from the sheer violence and chaos of conflict around them.”

He took a deep breath, only doing what he felt was ultimately correct. Some people may ultimately praise her for being able to keep such a strong lid on things. But, to Casey, this was rotten pumpkin behavior. The surface never looked better, but try and carve it, and it squished under your fingers. The “goodness” was only skin deep. He didn't have to convince her, however… Not knowing it was a simple fact.

So a keen explanation may help in the end…

”These people often exhibit the same signs of distress that a soldier would. And then, normal soldiers dealt with the same. Hit the front lines, your first time out, it hits you hard. Leaves you too sick to eat, or too scared to fight again. But PTSD isn't some exclusive designer condition for soldiers and refugees to claim disability over. Here at home, terrible things happen too. People are assaulted in all bodily manners, they're harassed, they deal with random tragic loss and infuriating helplessness every day.” he left the explanation lingering in the air a moment before connecting the point fully.

”You spent multiple months, as a fourteen year old girl, dealing with the equivalent of a Paranormal war zone. Trisha… You were an untrained, unconditioned soldier in a brutal conflict, fighting for your life sometimes more than once a day. For months! If it takes a normal person a single instance of something happening for a post-traumatic stress disorder to develop. Post, as in after. Traumatic as in something that has caused significant damage to a vital part of you. And then, y'know, stress! You tense up, you act differently than you would, you treat shit like it's always defcon five. That sounds, to me as someone who isn't an expert, like all the symptoms you deal with over these anxiety spikes.” he finished, his hands reaching out to hers more.

”You're not ashamed of me. Nor my condition. So, why are you so afraid of facing yours?” he asked very quietly, doing his best to make the tone sound sad and confused, not accusatory as it could have been.

Trisha's brow furrowed slightly, gripping onto his hands tighter than she meant to. But wasn't it just normal anxiety? Where was the difference? Not that she liked having anxiety either.

Her eyes dropped down and away from Casey as she started to bite her already painfully chapped lips. She was ashamed of all the issues she had and struggled to label. Having anxiety and panic attacks was something negative about her. But if any of it was something like PTSD… then there was another struggle, because she felt she shouldn't be ashamed. Because she wasn't ashamed of Casey or his condition! And it was something reserved for people who'd really done things… But he was saying it wasn't?

“I’m not… I'm… I am embarrassed because it feels like I've always been like this. I don't know if the Stygian Snake really made things worse, or if it's just who I am, I- I don't know, I've always been tense. I guess not with the darkness, but is that any worse than the other anxiety? And then- I hate that. I really hate that about myself. But if it's really something like PTSD- if that's really something I could have- then that makes me a hypocrite, doesn't it?"

She wasn't quite entirely accepting it, but it was hard to deny when Casey put it like that. Her mind wasn't clear at the moment, but her emotions weren't so reactive. She could see reason when something was properly explained to her even when feeling so low otherwise. Because he was right… she'd spent months as a teenager spending every day fighting for her life, seeing people die, and having no one aside from other equal fucked up teens to support her.

”You are naturally anxious, Trish. That's part of you. But, don't you think it just makes sense in the end? That you'd be predisposed to those sorts of issues? You spent your whole childhood being browbeaten by a domineering person, she never gave you the chance to be confident in yourself.”

Not that he was much better right now. He'd hoped that keeping her out of things would give her the chance to build that necessary layer between herself and outside events. To give himself the opportunity to know how to help her when she needed it.
But things all happened so fast, he could only deal with it as it came. So, he couldn't hide. She'd find out too fast, and find out it was all a lie. And then, she'd regress.

She'd probably already mentally regressed, and was subconsciously looking for a reason to lash out. Maybe not today, or tomorrow… But he'd see the results more down the short line. He had confidence enough in her and her habits to make that educated guess.

”I haven't either. And I'm so wrong for that… but, I love you. And it is frustrating: I know plenty of people bigger than you, stronger, tougher, more mentally sound, who didn't escape the horrors around them. Not even close. You aren't a hypocrite for not putting it all together yourself… I… Know enough to know you lost more than friends that summer. Be mad at him all you want, but… Lee told me what happened. The… The boy. You had something ripped away from you. That's bound to leave scars that won't heal right. Hear me?” he asked her calmly, ready for the flood of anger, or sadness, or whatever to unfurl from her mouth and crush him with its pressure.

The… boy? Trisha's breath hitched, curling her legs up even tighter to her chest. Tensing up, but also covering the scar already covered by the oversize t-shirt that swamped her small frame. Leon told him?

“It- It wasn't my fault." She stammered out, clutching onto Casey with sudden panic. Because if Leon was the one that told him… she knew how he felt about it, how everyone else felt about it. They all blamed her, because she had the strength to drag his body out of that forest- she didn't start bleeding out till she was safe. But he wasn't, he'd been dead, and they all thought it was her fault because they didn't like her. But he- he'd been so much better than her, he'd been well liked, it had to be her fault they'd ended up separated from the rest, it was clearly her reckless decision. And she couldn't remember everything… so she couldn't even deny it, but she just knew deep down it wasn't her fault.

“I- I don't know what he told you, but it wasn't, I swear, he- he- we were alone, there were too many of them, I didn't cause it."

Casey was surprised at her reaction. Survivor's guilt usually came with suicidal feelings, a desire to replace or substitute oneself, that they may be the ones taking the loss rather than the actually affected party. A wish that they'd died rather than the victim. And while it was too early to know whether or not she had that kind of feeling too, knowing that she was feeling actual guilt of intention made him really question what the situation had been like.

”Well, he told me you were going steady with a guy at the time. A pretty popular one in your grade, and from what I hear, in the coven too… But, he died. You two were together. Leon said he saved you from whatever it was that killed him, but didn't make it out himself… He said nobody knows what you saw, because you wouldn't let anyone see… I said to myself then, ‘That tracks for Trisha.’ But, that's all! I don't even know the kid's name!”

“Really?" Trisha stared at him with wide eyed panic, trying to find any signs that he was lying. But he wasn't… Why would he? But why wouldn't Leon tell Casey about all the accusations him and everyone else had towards her? She couldn't even blame them for believing it was her fault… There'd been bee stings on his body. Not enough to have really hurt him, but enough for it to be noticeable.

At least, from her memory, Leon hadn't backed any of the wilder accusations. That the two had a fight, and she hurt him before letting him die. That he hadn't really saved her because she pushed him into it. All those people with poor opinions with nothing better to do than to attack her… but everyone had believed it was in some way her fault.

It sort of was. She'd lost control of her bees for a moment… and that moment could've been the difference between him living and dying. It was why he'd had to defend her like that.

“His name was Martin." She spoke again after a moment, voice softer again. There was still that panic she always felt when thinking about him and what happened, but it wasn't as intense as when she thought Casey already had some false account of it. Intertwining with the sorrow she felt towards it that made her more depressively mellow.

“We’d been together for almost a month. A large period of that summer. He was… nice. He was popular because he was nice, not anything superficial like how I was… viewed as ‘popular’. But he wasn't with me for that…" He'd probably been her first genuine partner. Not like the first few, when she'd said yes because it had seemed right and then realised it was a cure to her loneliness. Then the ones after that were going for anyone attracted to her, even if it was just physical. She really had liked him.

“It was a really bad night. We were separated from the rest of our group by hellhounds. They'd… already got me. It's how I got… that…" One hand detached from Casey to point to her left hip, and the bite scar hidden by her shorts. But he'd seen it plenty of times by now.
“He was a Green Adept, so he healed it enough I could keep going. But it- it was really bad that night. A- A new moon, so everything from stronger."

Her breath hitched again, and she tucked her head against Casey as she took deep breaths. She didn't need to tell him. But she'd already started. She should get it out… let him judge her. Maybe then the weight would be less heavy.

“We were exhausted and ambushed. It was… these horrible shadow monsters… the kind from nightmares. And one of them caught me in its gaze, and I couldn't see reality- I lost control of the bees, Casey. And they would've killed me if he didn't step in. They already almost did, after- after he was- was-" She cut herself off, taking a heaving breath and squeezing her eyes shut. But it didn't help. She just saw it all again. Those tall shadowy creatures, with claws like knives.
“There weren't many left. I was already hurt, and one managed to slice under my chest. I- I thought I was going to die… I don't remember how I got away. I just remember when I got to the group looking for us… I'd dragged him as far as I could… then I passed out. When I woke up, everyone was saying he was dead and blaming me. I- I denied it, because I couldn't know b-but, some of it is. I lost control of my bees. And he died protecting me!"

He didn’t say anything to start with. Just held her. Casey’s arms cradled her, head in one hand while the other wrapped around her side to keep her close. Keep her safe. He was trying to figure out how she didn’t associate her situation to some kind of mental breakage. The only option is that she was-

”Wait… They… blamed you?”

Casey was aware that one of the Stygian Snake’s favorite abilities was its talent for breaking up and obscuring Recollections. The magical bodycam which every paranormal entity was capable of reproducing and passing along to others like the Ring tape… It made plenty of sense that they genuinely didn’t know what happened, especially if the two were alone in the middle of the woods.

But… Accusing her of murder? Or, at the very least some kind of serious gross negligence or outright sacrificing with malice?

”If you weren’t a fucking Sycamore Member, I’d almost rather let Dollhouse fucking murder them all. Aw fuck, I can’t fucking believe this! This is what I have to deal with ten years later? These gutterfuckers, how dare they insinuate something like that! The audacity! The ridiculous implication that you were responsible? Even cursorily? You said yourself, you were both separated! He peeled off of them to stick by you! Like a noble person would, when everyone else would’ve just fucking abandoned you like you were garbage!? And they accuse you?!”

He hadn’t quite expected such a visceral reaction of frustration, but there it was. Another reason to be happy they wouldn’t be here much longer… No more bastards. No more fucking Sycamores, or Dollhouses. St. Portwell would be a distant fucking memory soon.

There was something gratifying about Casey so passionately defending her all those years later. No one had at the time. Sure there were her ‘friends’ who didn't say anything one way or the other, and people who ignored it but nobody actually defended her.

“It wasn’t all… wild accusations. Some just assumed I’d started a fight with him or something, because that was how they saw me- and I was like that, but not during shit like that! And they took me not wanting to share my memories as an admission of guilt… But I didn’t want my mind touched anymore than it had to be.” Trisha pressed herself against Casey, trembling.

Part of her agreed, and was resentful about how unfair it was. She wanted to get as angry as he was. But it just made her sad now, and she… couldn’t even blame them. The part of her that hated herself knew she didn’t do herself any favours. Of course they all thought the worst!

“I didn’t do anything they said… but I lost control. And I- the blame isn’t all on them. He- He had stings on him! It was an accident, but of course people started thinking shit. And nobody trusted me. None of them understood why he was with me either. Cause he was too good for me. Like- like-” You.

She took another heaving breath, trying not to let herself spiral into panic again. It was hard.
“When I woke up, I didn’t know he was dead. My mind was so fucked when he protected me- when I dragged him away- that I still thought he was alive. Just injured… So I was pretty hysterical. I was still hurt too. We didn’t have enough magical healers, so they only healed some things to the point of not dying… I don’t think they wanted to heal me more than they had to. But I felt so guilty, and then when I was blamed I just snapped and that made everything worse. There was nobody on my side then, and… I’ve never told anyone about it because I was scared...”

There was a long, long moment of silence before Casey felt like he could speak. There was inescapable fury that needed to be rehoused before he was able to focus on something else. Something better than his incandescence of anger. This kind of emotion never did him any good.

”Honestly? I’m having a really hard time dealing with that. You’ve really gotta point these people out if we see them, because I’m gonna make them hate me just as much as they hate you. But, maybe they’ll think twice. I… just find myself in utter disbelief. I mean, you were Witchhunted in a Coven for Christ’s sake! Is there no sanctity? Truly, this entire system is wrong, it must just be something about this fucking town, Trish. I swear to you. I fucking swear, once we’re gone, it’s not gonna be like this crazy bullshit. It’s just not, we are not gonna let it get like this! Right? You and me? Together!?”

He’d managed to get his hands up to her elbows so he could rest her arms in his as he pulled away enough for them to look squarely at one another again. The look of sincerity was prying through the tears, most apparent in the nearly smug grin. It wasn’t a challenge: It was a guarantee, and he just knew he needed her to confirm it in that moment. In the same moment that one hand slipped down to meet hers again, sliding around the finger and the ring upon it.

”I know you’d never do what they say. Leon didn’t even mention it, so… I think we should confront him about it. See what he has to say for himself ten years later. Maybe we’ll be surprised, or maybe not, but at least it’ll be clear. But, let me be very clear with you… I will die for you. Call me number two, maybe. But, if I thought giving myself up would let you be around longer, I would-”

Sure, if they had to die together, at least it was together… But if there was a way out? He wouldn’t judge her in what came after. He was almost certain he’d leave behind a lifetime widow, but he hoped there’d be impetus to at least continue on with the humdrum of life. Kids, maybe. A legacy. Something that she’d stick with in his honor, to keep going. Anything… Because he could never be sure she’d do it for herself. Who could see that kind of future?

Trisha shook her head, gripping onto Casey’s hand tightly.
“I don’t want that. I didn’t want it then, and I- I really don’t now… I don’t want to live without you. We… Need to get through all this so we can leave and make something better, together. Like you said! I can’t do that alone.”

It was short term thinking when it came to his possible death- but dying and dying for her were very different things. If they really were going to leave the city and have a peaceful life together after this, there’d be no need for him to protect her like that. She only saw it being a possibility in the upcoming months… And if it happened, she wasn’t sure if she could continue.

Maybe after years, if she was stronger. But if he was dying for her? It just made things harder. She didn’t even want to think about it.

“I’d rather die together. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear… But I would! I don’t want to be around longer if you’re not going to be there.” She didn’t even acknowledge anything else he said, so desperate to get that point across.

”Aw, fuck I knew it…” he bemoaned.

”Please, God, I’d never forgive you, Trisha! If you wasted that? If you gave yourself up? We’re gonna-”
He paused, looking up at her face and seeing her eyes welling.

”-Like, someday soon we’ll be in a place where it’s all okay, and we won’t need to worry. But. This is right now. And right now, God forbid, if something happens to me and it saves you? Preserves you so that you can see another sunrise for me? Please, just promise me you won’t dishonor that love… Because if one person does it, maybe they’re just a hero… But if it happens twice? Can’t you see that there’s something fucking special about you!?”

“No, I can’t! I don’t see… I really don’t, I don’t understand. I’m not- there’s so many better people out there. I’m difficult and fucked up and I just make everyone’s lives more difficult. I really can’t see it, Casey. And I don’t think I want to, because I don’t want you to die for me!” Trisha shook her head, heaving sobs following her words.

She really didn’t want to imagine a world without him. It wouldn’t be fair. Not when she’d finally found some kind of happiness. Having it ripped away like that… it terrified her more than him leaving her did now. Because she was beginning to believe he’d stay if he could.

“I wouldn’t follow you like that! I’m brave enough to- to do anything myself, but I- I really don’t want to do it, Casey. I only see a future with you… and I still don’t understand why you want that with me.”

”You’re the girl for me, Trisha… I’m not settling. I’ve been home a couple years now; there’s no chance this is me settling for something. People keep asking me stupid ass questions like that. Am I settling? No, I’m not, because I told you. I saw you. Your picture’s always been in my head. Maybe I lost it somewhere in the sands of North Africa, maybe I left it here on my desk before I left that first time… I don’t know. But I’ve never felt so driven to be beside anyone in my fucking life.”

Casey shook his head slightly, both hands having brought her own hands up so they could curl against her chest as she cried. And with it, he hugged around her again once he’d said his piece. He didn’t think there was much else to be said in that regard anyway… She had all the affirmations she needed right there in front of her. He was here. Still.

”Trust me… I’ll live for you long before I die for you. Every day I wake up, I feel like I’m really living for you. With you in mind. I fucking love you.” he gritted through his teeth.

“I love you too. So much that it’s painful sometimes.” Trisha got out between sobs, curling in towards him. She tried to even out her breathing so that she could at least talk without choking on her words.

“I don’t… understand what you see in me. But I know you mean it, even if I can’t… I feel it. I want to be able to see myself how you see me one day. I don’t want to… hate myself like this… but most people have too! I just… I trust you, I really trust you, I believe you. As much as I can. Because I feel it too, and I know you love me, even though I feel so unloveable sometimes. You- You give me a reason to live too… to actually better my life and myself! I really, really love you.”

”Then we can’t leave one another, Babe. We just can’t, and we won’t. I’ve let you go twice, and both times I’ve regretted it. No more… I promise, no more.” he spoke softly, watching her face as the ever-encroaching sun crested the hills in the East to shimmer back off the bay.

Recollections: Primal Sinister

---

Interactions: Paloma @Atrophy
Thursday November 24th, The Hollow Tap

---

Vin looked up from their adoring minions with a groan as the most annoying person that could've showed up did. Marco wasn't even in the area to distract her with his pecs- what was the point of the fucking guy if he couldn't at least take one for the team and keep Paloma distracted?! Vin had better things to do, like training the next generation of South Sider resistance fighters.

”Hah?” Vin stared at hand on their wrist desperately trying to drag them away to now avail. Their eyes moved up to Paloma and narrowed, confusion wriggling through annoyance. ”The fuck am I meant to do, send you a guest list? There ain't one, by the way. She just fuckin' turned up so take it up with the Boss- I ain't happy 'bout it either. I can't even punch that bitch here, cause the Boss'd had my head.”

They carefully pried Paloma's fingers from around their wrist, making sure to use just enough strength to dislodge her but not enough to hurt. Not because they cared, but because they didn't want to deal with how annoying she'd be if they hurt her. There was no care about their language around the kids. This was the south side, after all. They heard worst outside their windows at night.

”Bitch probably thought she could crawl in and us poor folk'd beg at her feet. That shit ain't happenin'... I dunno why the fuck Gideon even let her in, but I ain't lettin' her get off. These kids're gonna punch her for me, ain'tcha?”

"Right in the tummy!" One of the kids shouted. They were all enraptured by Paloma now too, staring at her with big, shining eyes as Samaritan worked their magic.

”That's right, kiddo.” Vin's lips pulled back into a wicked grin, turning it to Paloma. ”I'll teach you, right now. Then y'can go slap that upper class prick for me, specially if you're so pissy about seein' her. I assumin' you saw that shit she said? I ain't till I got in for the mornin'... How far's it gone?"

They hoped it hadn't reached Loni, but they weren't online enough to have any idea how far it went.

Recollections: Primal Sinister

Main Plot Summary

In the aftermath of the Cataclysm, two covens face off over what to do to the host of Nyrah the Ravager - Princess Nadine. Gideon Cross the leader of the Hollow Tap, a South Side coven slash gang with monopoly over most of the lower district, wants her dead. On the other side are the Keepers of the Grove, who protect a magical Grove nestled in the mountains over Cloverfield near the town Raven’s Rest, who lost all of their Elders in the battle. Their new leaders Elara Wren and Bryn Woods argue to keep her alive with Nyrah sealed in her body, as killing her will only unleash it again. Eventually, Gideon agreed to let her live - as it’s punishment enough to live stuck with Nyrah inside her. He leaves, allowing the new leaders of the Grove to gather their dead to return home and rebuild.

A year and a half later, on Sunday the 23rd of November in Raven’s Rest, a man called Bill prepares to close his tattoo shop. What appears to be a last minute customer turns out to be his exact doppelganger, lacking only his tattoos and wearing an inhuman smile. While Bill tries to shoot it, then hits it with a magical bat, he’s killed by the doppelganger. It then takes his place, and calls in emergency services as if it were Bill.

The next morning, the Keepers of the Grove meet in the church in Raven’s Rest. One of the members reports that someone tried to kill Bill last night. Elara and Bryn agree to check on him after the meeting. Pastor John, the town’s Pastor and member of the Paranormal Pastors of the Mountain, shows that there’s been various paranormal attacks to the west of the town for the last two weeks. There’s a looming Paranormal threat that Raven’s Rest, then Cloverfield, are faced with. Seren, the final Grove leader, agrees to talk to the Hollow and Bryn contacts Twin-Hill Coven.

Bryn and Elara go to Bill’s Tattoo Shop and meet Varnan Ingram, who’s visiting Bill to talk about the Paranormal happenings. Bill appears, but Elara realises it's not him because he has no tattoos. Varnan and Elara ask where the real Bill is, but Bryn just attacks. Bill transforms into a horrific monster, flinging Elara out the window. Varnan freezes it allowing the three to regroup outside. They manage to hold it off until Grove reinforcements come even though the creature slowly adjusts to their magic. They kill it, before the Grove group returns to the Grove itself.

In the Downtown of Cloverfield North Side, Freya Collins opens her bakery, Cozy Bakery, for the day. Elena Castellano goes to the bakery to meet a witness to the possible supernatural happenings of the city. The man tells her he’s being followed by a shadow, whispering to him, that no one else can see. But there’s no evidence for Elena to pursue it. Meanwhile, Loni Rodriguez enters with her daughter, Luciana, who runs over to Elena. The two talk, before a regular of Freya’s, James, scares Luciana. Loni confronts him, and Freya tells him to leave. But instead he changes, revealing himself to be some kind of monster, disappearing into the shadows and taunting them all. ‘James’ reappears to attack another customer, Elijah Tower. Elijah dodges and uncaps a pen which turns into the Spear of the Hunter. Loni gives Luciana to Elena, so she can run into the back to find salt to form a protective circle. Elena takes Luciana, putting distance between them and the Doppelganger to keep her safe.

After a meeting with a new client, Quill St. Sebastien enters Cozy Bakery from the back door to find it in chaos. In response to her entrance, the Doppelganger mind controls the Blinds in the cafe. Two attack Quill, another two attack Elijah and one goes for Elena. The Doppelganger goes for Loni, tearing through her shoulder and making her drop the salt. In desperation, she forms an anti-Apparition circle around her, shouting for Elena to get in. She manages to smash a mug across the head of the Blind attacking her, getting into the protective salt circle. Quill manages to fight off the two women attacking her too, knocking them both out. Elijah avoids the Blinds attacking him, and manages to spear the Doppelganger in the arm after it horrifically swaps where its head was. The two fight, with Elena going to get sugar for Loni’s wound while Loni uses the rest of her energy to magically weaken the Doppelganger. This allows Elijah to get in front of Elena before it gets her, killing the Doppelganger with a spear to the chest even as it utters ominous last words. With it dealt with, Quill says she’ll stay and sort out the Bakery while Elena and Elijah take Loni to a hospital.

In Lugar Apartado Three, in the subway tunnels under Cloverfield’s Financial District, Moriah “Momo” Mottah tends to one of her Unborn- a child grown using biological magic and fed memories via contributed biological materials. They are the the progeny of Matriarchs like Momo, extremely powerful and barely human Green Adepts, from the great city of Culla in Italy where the Coven of the Whispering Flesh’s eldest and wisest reside. Momo is the leader of the Twin-Hill coven within Cloverfield itself, which only loosely follows Culla’s ways while rejuvenating areas of the city and running various businesses- including the famous Sin Sisters stripclub. After tending to her Unborn, Momo bumps into three well dressed men after returning to the subway platform nearby. One appears injured but as they surround her, Momo senses that they aren’t human. They taunt her, talking about the place she’s protecting. Momo ignores it, and they fight. She drives one between the platform and the coming train, twisting and trapping it. Another, she stabs in the chest. The final one slams into her, sending her flying, before she fights back and caves its head in. She manages to drag the Doppelgangers to a pit across unused lines, stretching them across it to close the circuit and electrocute them to death.

After catching her train and returning to Sin Sisters, Momo is interrupted while changing by Bryn barging into her office. They discuss the Doppelgangers they both fought. Bryn tells Momo about the upcoming threat coming, which Momo dismisses as Father John trying to scare them, only worried they found out about her Lugar Apartado. After Bryn snaps about it, and explains more about where John got his information, Momo relents. They discuss the possibility of breaking the treaty between Twin-Hill and the Grove if they need to to keep them safe. Then they decide to send Elay Motta to look into it.

Later in the afternoon, Elay calls Bryn back. She fills him in on what happened, before they argue over how Momo also blew up his phone and as his paranoia about everyone from the Grove hating him gets the better of him. Eventually, he agrees to help, as long as they meet in the Grove for her to share a recollection of the fight with him on Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile in the South Side of Cloverfield, Vin Rodriguez escorts Gideon to the Hollow Tap Bar. Gideon mentions that David Smith, popular teacher in the Circle district of the South Side, might have an Apparition problem. Vin says they’ll take a look and takes two men, Malik and Caleb, from the Hollow to check. Paloma Gilmour goes to visit David after work, hoping he’ll be a lead for fulfilling her promise to her Apparition, the Samaritan. She arrives as Vin transforms into a sexier Tony the Tiger and kicks down the door, jumping out and asks to have a word with David before Vin presumably throws him in the river mafia style. Vin tells her to leave, sensing the Apparition inside the house. Paloma tries to push in and shouts for David, alerting the Doppelganger inside as it devours the actual David Smith. Vin shoves Paloma to the ground before it manages to spear her, before attacking it. They’re launched through a wall and it turns to attack Paloma. Caleb steps in to protect her, getting his head ripped off, before it goes for Paloma again… And misses. Every hit. Vin jumps back in while Paloma tries to interrogate it, and it tries to beg her to let it go. The two wrestle through multiple rooms and buildings as it tries to convince Paloma to get Vin to back off. Paloma finally goes outside with Malik.

Vin and the Doppelganger fight to the near death, with multiple walls destroyed in the process. The Doppelganger mimics their venomous teeth, knocking Vin onto the floor. The manage to shove all their ribs into it, leaving them both in a bad state. They wrestle, the Doppelganger manages to slam Vin into the ground and tear into their leg. As a last resort, Vin uses the Final Blow, tearing through the Doppelganger with their claws and Black Lux. They lose all their magic, causing them to go through a painful transformation before they can heal any of their wounds. Paloma tries to help normally, but Vin’s injuries are too bad for that, so she uses the Bystander effect on them- freezing them in place so they don’t bleed out. It lets them survive until Gideon and Marco, Hollow doctor both mundane and magic, arrive. Marco reluctantly uses his magic- transforming him and Vin into magical girls- to heal Vin.

Paloma is politely, but forcefully, invited back to the Hollow. They discuss what happened, with Paloma trying to flirt with Marco and failing. They interrogate Paloma about her magic, before letting her go as she doesn’t seem to know anything. She meets Vin outside to tell them about what she was trying to find from David Smith- she was trying to find the David Smith who’d visited a kid in a ward she worked in. She needs to ask him about the girl, and also what the Grove is. Vin agrees to help, reluctantly, before they awkwardly half follow each other home and realise they live in the same building.

No more Doppelganger attacks occur on the leadup to Thanksgiving. But the city is never quiet… Late at night on Wednesday the 23rd, a group called the Underground attacks and wipes out the Adel Coven in the North Side of the city. The fire can be seen all across the North Side of the city, and news of it spreads everywhere, though its effects are yet to be felt in the South Side.

---

SoL / Side Story Summary

Hiding A Body - Vin & Paloma

Later on Monday, Vin goes to an abandoned warehouse near the river following rumours of a Medium - planning to investigate and get rid of them if they really are. Back home, Paloma calls Vin out of boredom. After Vin threatens to hang up they talk about what a Gangster job would look like for Paloma, while there’s constant sounds of squelching and wailing in the background of their side of the call. Vin admits to having a family of three, leading to Paloma assuming that Vin’s the mother and the screaming in the background is the kid. Vin quickly clears up that it’s their sister's kid, before asking Paloma to come help clean up some ‘body fluids’. A child accident, Paloma assumes.

Paloma turns up to a murder scene in the warehouse. Dead bodies of various degrees of decay, with one living Necromancer tied up by Vin. Vin explains that she killed to make zombies- acting like that’s the real reason they attack and tied the Necromancer up. They hope it’ll scare Paloma off- but it doesn’t. Instead she doubles down and helps cleaning, and then dragging all the body parts down the river to get rid of.

The two engage in a friendly game of who can throw the body part furthest, which Paloma is terrible at and Vin has to hold back. In the end, they agree to it being a draw because of Vin’s magic use. Paloma proceeds to try and therapise Vin, which goes nowhere because they don’t feel bad about the murder and think she’s worried Vin doesn’t like her. In the end they get rid of the body with some vague friendship starting to form between them.

Tuesday Morning Market - Vin & Sunrise Art Collective

On the morning of Tuesday November 25th, the Sunrise Art Collective- a group of Artists originally from St Portwell who moved to the city recently- set up their stall at the monthly South side market. All but their leader are there, a group of six: Nico, Domi, Ash, Alice, Johnny and Art. As they discuss the Hollow and what it's like living in Cloverfield, Gideon Cross himself approaches with Marco. They reprimand Alice for selling Weed on their property without talking to them, and tell her they expect her to stop by the Hollow. After, Gideon takes interest in the art their selling, and tells Marco to buy art to decorate the Hollow. Nico explains what they have and invites Marco to come look at the larger pieces they have at some point. As Marco is taking Nico’s phone, the leader of the Collective and his boyfriend, Julian, appears, immediately trying to intimidate Marco. He’s talked down, and the rest fill him in on what happened with Gideon.

Nico and Julian leave the rest of the group to look around together. After some shopping, Julian spots Domi- who went off earlier- in trouble. Domi snapped a photo of Vin and was trying to give it to them, while they were preparing to beat her up. Julian steps in, and argues with Vin before goading them into a fight by calling them a twig. They punch him right in the face, and the two exchange some blows before Marco steps in. Vin just gets more pissed, especially when Domi takes another photo. Marco lectures her, and she agrees to not do it again, offering the photo to Marco as an apology- which he takes. As the three from the Sunrise Collective walk away, Domi brags about managing to get ‘access’ to the Hollow.

Twin Hill Events - Momo, Kiki & Loni

On Tuesday afternoon, Loni goes down to Sin Sisters in order to ask Momo to go to a Thanksgiving Week Festival happening at the Crystalline Mall, the largest mall in the North Side. In the end she doesn’t even have to ask, with Momo inviting herself along after guessing Luci is talking about buying toys. After a brief argument about money, with Loni saying she doesn’t have much and Momo pressing that she’s buying, they head to the mall.

There, Luci desperately wants to run around especially after seeing someone in a big golden turkey outfit. Momo distracts her by playing ‘dragonfly’- the bug loving Loni’s equivalent of airplane. But when Loni refuses to make the sounds, Momo gets concerned. Loni explains it's because there’s a lot of rich people around- who can smell the poor on her according to Vin. In the end she makes the sounds and they take Luci to meet the golden turkey. After, as they walk, they talk about Loni’s fears. Loni explains as best she can, having grown up discriminated against for being a poor South Sider with Vin feeding her fears. She doesn’t want her daughter growing up thinking she’s less too. Momo promises they’ll both be there to help Luci live filled with joy, before taking Loni to one of her Lugar Apartado below the mall.

Inside, Momo explains the process and how she's making ten to break the mold. Then she shows Loni the Unborn inside- Armina, who Loni will be in charge of one day. Loni reaches out with her Lux as instructed, finding a responding Black Lux with all of the dead buried above singing in her mind. Armina is being created with both Green and Black lux to help fix the problem of Hounding- the sickness Matriarchs experience from being around strong Black Lux. Momo then explains she brought Loni there to show her joy to focus on what’s good in her life, and the safety she brings Luci.

They go back to the mall itself and meet Kiki Motta, Momo’s youngest sister, and Sorella- a young Matriarch in Momo’s care. After introductions to Sorella, and playing around with Luci, they end up going to a pet store. They play around with Luci there, and Loni shows off a whole bunch of cool creepy crawlies. They get onto the topic of Loni’s current boyfriend, which results in an argument about how smart he could be. When she reveals he was her teacher in highschool, Momo bombs the shop with Green Lux before calming down and telling Loni she has to break up with him. Loni doesn’t understand why, so Momo and Kiki have to explain to her why it’s wrong. Loni eventually understands and feels upset about it, agreeing to break up with him and let Kiki come along with her.

After pet shopping, Loni and Kiki end up at a frozen drink cafe. After relaxing together, Momo and Sori show back up with a gift for the two- incredibly expensive, high brand heels. Loni’s joy is short lived after some rich men shoved into her chair, making her shy away and into herself. Sori reacts badly, resulting in the asshole berating her and Loni for not speaking English. Kiki violates the Matriarchal rules to feed Sori English, letting her rip into the man who only gets more angry in response. Before Kiki can respond, Momo cuts her off- realising that the asshole is Reese Voclain, eldest son of the on the richest men in the city. She threatens to contact his father, but Reese’s friends go to drag him off. Before they do, Sori starts cursing at her again- only to be knocked out by Momo. Reese and his cronies leave, leaving a panicking Loni only kept calm by Kiki’s pink Lux. Momo reprimands Kiki for teaching Sori English on purpose knowing who Reese was, telling her to leave with the other Matriarch. After Kiki leaves with Sori, Loni calms down Luci, and the three also leave the mall.

The next day, Loni and Kiki go to visit Loni’s soon to be ex boyfriend. Loni’s already started looking for another, much to Kiki’s dismay- because she’s the only one Loni should be dating. They get to his place with her boyfriend, Adrien, welcoming them both in- though not without chastising Loni. Kiki doesn’t waste any time in questioning him. He denies there being any problems in their relationship, and that she was sixteen the first time they slept together- regardless of him being a teacher. Kiki demands he justify it, mentioning his family to try to intimidate him. Adrien doesn’t feel worried at all, and only proceeds to double down on justifying their relationship as Loni being the one to start it then. Kiki loses it, punching his face in before using her healing magic to keep him alive. Loni tries to beg her to stop, but she doesn’t. Instead, Kiki drags everything out of his mind- including that he had been manipulating Loni to feel worse about herself the whole time, and planned to get her pregnant and trapped with him. Kiki shows this to Loni, which pushes her into a breakdown. Kiki sentences Adrien to ‘Gourmation’, and drags him away to kill him.

After, the two go back to Loni’s apartment. After a more relaxed meal with Luci and Vin- who’s in a good mood- they eventually discuss what happened with the doppelganger. Vin reveals that it copied their magic, and Kiki says that they need to talk more between their covens. She brings up Elay’s going to go into the mountains to investigate and a bigger threat- and Vin realises they’ve had to deal with him a few times when he caused trouble on Hollow turf. After realising they don’t want to hurt him, Kiki asks Vin to try and tag along with him when he goes into the mountain, to keep him safe and make sure he’s not being manipulated by the woman he’s currently hanging out with. Vin agrees because they want to know what’s happening with the Doppelgangers and the threat, and they plan to have a Hollow and Twin-Hill meeting to discuss it in the future.

A Drink from Death - Nessa & Elay

Dragging herself out of bed for the first time in days, Nessa Mendonza is at the rundown Trough Bar in the hope of finding someone to go home with. Not having any luck, she goes outside, only to be stopped and attacked by an ex. At the same time, Elay is at the bar watching her- she was the last person seen with his current target, a North Sider's missing husband. Pushed by his cat slash Apparition partner Garf, he follows her outside, and beats Nessa’s ex to unconsciousness. Nessa immediately latches onto him, pretending to be grateful and trying to hit him with a curse to make him want her. When this doesn’t work, she drops the act, sullenly refusing to tell him anything about the person he’s looking for- William Finkle. Eventually she stops lying, calling up William to find out where he is on the promise of dinner from Elay.

On the way, Garf tells Nessa that they may have a reason to stick with her- something she doesn’t believe and Elay is skeptical of. Nessa spends the journey trying to flirt with him, which Elay rebuffs, and she fills him in on what little she knows about William. Elay shit talks her for how bad she is at being a ‘Hopper’, not even stealing money from them, which she just gets pissed off about before lying that her magic’s too weak to use to earn money and that she’s too lazy to improve it. Because she wants to keep hidden that she has strong enough Blue-Pink magic to completely change and control people, trained by her father- Charles Beaumont- who is currently in prison for attempting to take over the city.

They get to the hotel William’s in, with Garf going in ahead to find out what he has on him. Nessa gets the key to the room to let them in, making it easy for Elay to immediately knock him out. He uses Garf’s magic to wake him up a bit and make sure he knows his wife is divorcing him, leaving him with the papers. Nessa complains about expecting Elay to beat him up more… So he does, punching him in the face multiple times. The tension between them and Nessa refusing to thank him results in Elay aggressively and passionately kissing her.

Later, they end up in a shitty diner. Nessa, with the help of Garf, tries to convince Elay to keep her around. Elay guesses she can’t go North- which she lies about that she can’t, still pretending to be weak. After Elay calls her useless she changes tune, trying to convince him that she’s got enough magic to be worth keeping around. Eventually, after goading him about being awful at sex, he agrees to at least sleep with her that night. But Elay says she’s going to work cases with him if she’s going to stick around.

While Nessa’s asleep, Momo calls Elay. Momo browbeats him for not having enough cases and being in debt to her, and that everything is being paid for by others' hard work. She tells him if he takes this case he’ll get bailed out again. He argues she already has a case, but Momo says that he’s giving her nothing. It’s this case, or he’s out. After discussing what they know, he agrees, but tells her to not complain about the bill she’s going to get for everything he needs.

The next morning, Nessa wakes up with Garf on her chest after sucking out her dreams. He claims to be ‘on her side until he’s not’, which Nessa doesn’t believe. After a shower, she comes back out to Garf turning from a fat orange cat to a monstrous, tiger like creature with fourteen feet and a second body coming from his belly. Garf offers her an accord. Let him eat her dreams and nightmares, and he’ll make sure Elay is attached to her. After some hesitation and questions Nessa agrees, before going to buy herself breakfast.

Upon returning, Elay is nakedly mopping up after Garf’s pasta eating mess. They argue over Nessa stealing his money, before kissing again. A few hours later, they go to Deciduous Apartments in Junglelands- Nessa’s shit apartment home. There, Elay pays a month of rent, and when the landlady finds out he’s a private investigator asks him to handle a case. They go to pack up her stuff, with Elay emphasising that she’s still going to be able to stay there even though he plans to turn it into a safehouse, before going to talk about the case with her landlady.

Irene explains that people aren’t playing because they seem to be addicted to some kind of card game. Elay scoffs at it, negotiating a high payment and a cut of what she gets by not so subtly threatening her. They agree to look into it, getting the apartments of two victims. Elay asks Nessa if she’s been working on an addiction spell recently, which she gets pissed off about.

At one of the apartments, Elay admits he can’t do anything with Garf asleep. So Nessa checks there’s someone in there. She goes into his mind and finds the Pink Lux addiction spell, before hooking her own cursed command onto it to make him go back to where he buys the cards. This lets Elay and Nessa follow him. They end up in a bar where he shows a card and is allowed into the basement. After a drink, Elay uses Garf’s magic to trap the blinds in magical laughter to get another card out of the trash.

Downstairs, they find a strange underground magical card trading room. People are playing, ripping open packs, trading and buying. There’s three Adepts at the back who clearly run the place, but none of them are the person with the addiction spell. Elay distracts them by pretending to be an addicted card buyer while Nessa loosens the spell on all of the Blinds in the room. As Nessa finishes and lets the Blinds loose, Elay tries to get to the Red Adept but is blocked as she walls off herself and their stock.

The Pink-Orange Adept who Nessa is actively tussling with looks into Elay’s Garf cloak, with a Seed of Knowledge implanted that’ll let Elay hunt him down later. The final Adept, a Yellow, attacks Nessa and drags her out from under the table she’s hiding in. Desperate, she starts to crack at his weak Emotional Field with her Blue Lux. Elay uses the seed to teleport around, punching the Yellow Adept. The two fight, before Elay manages to beat the Yellow Adept. The Red Adept, now the only one remaining, attacks them with metal tower constructs. One manages to get Nessa and slice through her leg before Elay gets to the Red Adept and knocks her out. Elay mocks Nessa for her injury, but picks her up anyway. But he does say he’s putting her in the trunk to go back to the North Side to get her healed- and no matter how much he protests, he does it.

They reach the car park of St Alexia’s, with Nessa cursing Elay with boils on the way out. Garf then carries her up to the clinic, with Garf torturing Elay to make him come with them. When they get to the top Elay’s sister, Giovanna, threatens to shoot Elay with metal needles made with her magic. After pointing out Nessa’s hurt, Gia relents and shouts at Garf to leave. Nessa refuses to lower her Emotional Field for healing, resulting in Gia healing her in the most painful way possible. Nessa suffers through it before being stuck in place thanks to the magic and threatened to answer Gia’s questions

Nessa claims she’s nobody and Gia asks about red flags. Because of it, before Gia can talk about it, Garf shows Elay what happened the last time they met - when he almost killed her because he was drunk over money. Nessa says she can handle herself, and Gia drops it, saying Elay’s banned and she won’t heal any damage he does to her, leaving Elay with some harsh words on the way out.

In the lift down, Elay asks which it is- if Nessa’s stupid or suicidal. She dances around an answer that she’s not scared of violence, even though it’s because she feels she deserves it, and is horribly lonely. Elay tries to convince her that he’ll kill her if he hits her, trying to push her away. She refuses to leave, and Garf says Elay can’t leave her anyway. Elay’s still firm that she’s leaving the next morning. Before Garf lets Nessa into the car, he asks her if she’s seen Nikita lately. Nessa claims to not know any- even though she does, the former assistant of her Father who betrayed him right after the Cataclysm.

They go to the New Leopold Building and the restaurant inside. While changing, Elay finds a block of weed in the car, and gets Nessa to contact a drug dealing ex she admits to having. Inside they’re met by another sister of Elay’s, Chessa, who questions Nessa about Elay not being safe- but lets them go through after pulling Recollections from Elay to make sure he hasn’t hurt Nessa. The two settle down for dinner, Elay planning to get Nessa an I.D. and better clothes the next day. After talking about her shitty situation and suggesting she gets a job there, they’re interrupted by Momo, who’s not too happy.

For Nessa, seeing Momo is like a nightmare- as she’s identical to her Progenitor, Cadenza Motta. Cadenza was captured by Charles Beaumont eight years previous, and Nessa was forced to work on layering curses on top of her father's before the woman finally died. She uses magic on herself to keep it hidden as Momo makes it clear she has a problem with Nessa being there without having anything to offer. After Elay grovels in Italian, pretending that Nessa is actually a new Detective for Momo. Nessa plays along, agreeing to help with cases that require a bit of a subtler touch.

After she leaves, Nessa pushes Elay about his family and learns what Matriarchs are. Then, that Cadenza and Nikkita Motta are his moms and he’s been trying to find out what’s happened to them. Nessa knows what happened to them, but can’t tell him without blowing her cover and outing herself as participating in her father’s magical human experimentation. So she offers to help, even though she knows where it’ll lead.

Later in the evening, they’re both drunk when they get back to Elay’s apartment. Nessa goads Nessa, bringing up how he acted in front of Momo. He gets angry and she just pushes him more, until he throws a lamp at her. When she ducks, he gets more pissed, and hits her. Garf pushes him away before he can do anymore, even though Nessa tells him not to and continues to goad Elay, revealing she knows Italian and heard everything. Elay sends Garf away and then literally throws Nessa out. Garf manages to tell Nessa not to leave before disappearing.

Assuming everything’s over, Nessa goes back to the South Side and finds someone to go to a shitty motel with. In the early hours of the morning she still hasn’t slept, her partner asleep beside her when Garf appears. He says she should’ve waited, that Elay would’ve let her back in within an hour and he’s downstairs now waiting. Nessa doesn’t believe him. Garf offers to help, pulling up all of Nessa’s suppressed memories about Cadenza so she can vividly remember what the woman was like. She was joyful until the end, and nice to Nessa the whole time.

It’s not enough to convince her, or trust that Elay really wants her back. So she withdraws her magic from the man as Garf calls Elay up- only to take over the man and have him strangle her against the wall to make a point that he’s in charge. When Nessa hits Elay with her magic, he rushes in, beating up the man without much of a fight and tearing his head from his body. After ranting at her for wanting the worst, they clean the blood off them, and Elay tells her to phone the drug dealing ex, Kieran. She does, pretending she’s been attacked and needs protection. He tells her to come to the Black Book, a drug den and brothel in the 14th Ward.

Once there, Nessa goes inside alone, with Garf watching from the roof and Elay planning to sneak in the back. She goes to Kieran, flirting heavily with him and convincing him to go somewhere private with her so she can ‘make it up to him.’ He pressures her into taking an Ecstasy pill, which she dampens with her magic. While she distracts him getting a drink, Elay sneaks in the back door. He knocks out the guard there, and then the guard downstairs, managing to drag the body into the room Kieran and Nessa are going into just in time. When Nessa gets there with him, Garf appears, and Nessa makes Kieran take him to the door, which lets Elay hit him in the back of the head. Then, he removes the ring that’s giving Kieran his Emotional Field. The two taunt him, before Nessa manipulates his mind so that he’ll obey and work for them. When that’s done, Nessa takes all of his money and Elay takes some of the pills, the two of them leaving to enjoy the rest of their day.

Iron and Honey: A Love Story [FernStone & AtomicEmperor]

With Ezra and Tansy slinking off into the night, and into their limo to return to the gilded cages with new understandings, Casey took a long deep breath. His hand holding Trisha wrapped into her side and held her close, his head tilting to the side as it turned fully to kiss the top of her head.

”At least the worst part of the night is over. I’m… Sorry they didn’t stay to see us. I guess I really didn’t help, clamming up like that there. I can understand if you’re mad at me… I’m sorry. But, that was a really beautiful thing you just said. About, y’know, not needing their approval. I think it’s your strongest statement yet.” he admitted, trying his best to fill Trisha back up with confidence wherever an open pit may be lingering.

Trisha tilted her head slightly, turning to properly face Casey and snaking her arms around him. When had he clammed up? Oh… Back at the table?
“I’m not mad at you. You weren’t the one that started shit, it’s not fair we’re expected to deal with and stop it.”

She smiled slightly, trying her best to take what he said and hold onto the brief confidence she’d managed to feel. It was less confidence, and more not letting the panic take over for once. It was difficult… But she’d managed to in response to both of her siblings. She wasn’t sure if she could back it up the next time she saw either of them- if she saw them again- but it was a start. A big step for her, really.

“Thank you… I told you, didn’t I? That I wouldn’t let them get to me tonight… When I asked for a ring. I didn’t even need it on! I just… I’m not going to let them get in the way of us. You’re the family I chose, after all, not them.”

Casey nodded enthusiastically, one hand coming down to grip hers as he looked at her with a glow in his eyes.

”Trisha, if we didn’t have plans, I’d drop to one knee and find a priest to marry us right the fuck now. I love you so much. You are the family I’ll choose every single fucking time.” he admitted with great fervor before hugging her tight to him. Maybe it was just the moment, but the affection flowed from him like water.

Trisha blushed, little giddy giggles escaping her lips. She was able to ignore all those little anxieties- that the thought of actually marrying so quickly brought up- to just enjoy the warmth it brought her. Because they weren’t going to, but he wanted to. He loved her enough to want to do it…

“I love you so much too, Casey. If… If we hadn’t already agreed to wait with that, I’d say fuck it!” She tilted her head back to smile lovingly up at him, so completely soft in the moment.
“I think Cass would kill me if we eloped… Now or ever. I think she’s already started planning my bachelorette… Or Hen Do, as she keeps calling it. It’s only been a few hours! She’s just assumed she’ll be in my wedding party as well…”

She would be, of course, but that was beside the point. Still blushing, she pressed her face against Casey’s chest.
“I really do love you more than anything else…”

He let himself sit there with her for a long moment as he watched the Limos pull out of the parking lot completely, Ezra’s pulling out with some haste involved. Bastard… Casey hoped he had a hard time sleeping for the next few weeks. Maybe it was evil of him, but after that? He’d never bought everyone deserving peace and safety to begin with, but such duplicity didn’t even exist in the Temple…

At least, he assumed. For all the personal plotting, people still tended to wear their hearts on their sleeves. And coming from that to the Military, then going back into that kind of environment, made him all the more detestful toward people like Ezra Vanburen.

But finally he cleared his throat and patted Trisha’s arm.

”D’you wanna go back to the table? We can hide until my turn comes.” Casey offered gently.

“How long until your turn?” Trisha asked back, gaze drifting back towards the table. She didn’t really want to go back right now. Especially not after what happened with Tansy… She struggled with that much attention even when it was positive. It was probably too much to hope that nobody would bring it up. And she’d already have to deal with all that for the proposal- which she’d prepared for.

“Let’s hide… I don’t feel like there’s anyone I need to save anymore. Cass is the only non Temple member left, and she’ll be fine!” After saying that, Trisha tilted her head up towards Casey with a joking pout.
“You said she wasn’t coming! I told her- and Ed- this morning for no reason!”

Casey raised his hands to ward her off playfully.
”Woah, yell at the Wolf guy about that. I didn’t know until it was too late to tell you… Meaning, like, this morning when he told me she was coming. We were getting changed for the Mass.” he giggled, pulling away from her just to let their fingers lock together so they couldn’t drift too far while walking.

Not that he was planning on actually hiding. He could feel White Eyes staring at the two of them from afar. Dozens, maybe hundreds of sets of eyes that weren’t either of theirs. It was telling that his Mother’s clan wasn’t actually included in any of the family events like the Richoux… But, he knew his cousins from the Mauteo were out there. Most he’d hardly ever met. They didn’t seem to want to really approach him anyway, which…

”Can I tell you another weird secret? Maybe it’ll creep you out; I know this kind of stuff usually does, but it makes me kind of happy in a weird way.” he asked her politely.

Trisha’s brow furrowed slightly. Weird like… How weird? Though, it wasn’t really a question of whether she said yes or not… She always would. She wanted to know everything about him after all, even if she was more reluctant to share everything about herself.

“Go ahead. I’ll try not to get too creeped out… If it’s you, I think I can manage.” She answered with a slight smile, squeezing his hand. She couldn’t even begin to guess what he was going to say right now, so it wasn’t like she could actually guarantee what her reaction would be.

”Well… Not like you can really guarantee that. Uh… Lynette’s whole side of the family? Well, half of her side. My GiGi, her Mom. Though, she’s been gone a few years. So, I assume its her cousins. It does explain why ol’ Snippy’s so calm.” he pointed down at the boarding, referring back to the massive ancient crab beneath.

”But, uh… Well, they’re a solitary bunch. Kind of. I like to call them Native Ninjas. But, the whole surveillance thing is a learned behavior. They all talk to one another through Lux, like the rule is you don’t get to talk out loud. Anyway… Uh, well-”

He lifted his free hand, spinning it around in the air.

”They’re all watching everything. There’s more here this year than there’s ever been before. If you press the surrounding area with your Emotional Field, you’ll feel it brush up against hundreds of pairs of eyes in the sky. I’m trying to figure out if they’re here to protect her? Or just to see her off… I’m certain that she’s not the only one having premonitions about what’s going to happen in the Tribe.” he admitted.

“Oh…” Trisha couldn’t quite suppress a shudder, glancing around as if she’d see any of the spying eyes. She didn’t actually press out with her Emotional Field, because she didn’t really want to feel it. It did creep her out in the same way Lynette watching always did. Was it better or worse that it was people she didn’t know at all? She wasn’t sure…

“That does creep me out.” She admitted honestly, rather than trying to hide it. Not that she was very good at hiding how she felt anyway.
“I figured there’d be a few watching eyes, but not that many. Surely they… can’t protect her if the future’s set in stone? That’s how premonitions work?”

She shook her head.
“I’m not creeped out by you, so… Uh… Well, why does it make you kind of happy?”

”They showed up, they’re quiet and respectful. And they’re family. I can feel when they see me, and I can even feel that some of them want to connect with me. But, uh… Y’know, whatever code they live by prevents it. And I respect that, so I don’t push just like they don’t push. But I know they know me. Probably because Mom tells everyone everything, because she’s a big deal to them too…” he smiled, rubbing her shoulder.

”And, the other thought is that if anything does go wrong tonight, we’ve got extra help. It’s comforting thinking that they’re as ready to square up as my own people.” he laughed.

Trisha nodded slowly.
“I guess I can understand a bit that way. I still don’t like the spying… Even if it’s just normal to them. But it could be worse, they could be in our face about it.” She shrugged.

“I guess it’s a bit like… That ideal you talked about? The benevolent surveying thing. Not that it’s necessarily benevolent, but I guess if they watch and then help if something goes wrong it’s not… Too bad.” She was trying to make herself not feel too uncomfortable about it. At least, no more uncomfortable than she already did knowing Lynette could be watching their every move.

”There’s a lot to take in. They’re a bit like dogs in new places; there’s just so much to see and smell. Plus, Snips gives off pretty crazy vibes for them. Must be why it’s so damn calm at the moment, now that I think of it.”

As they circled the edge of the platform, Casey was making a purposeful rotation back toward where the food was. He’d not exactly had his fill, and with everything that had happened, he was far more focused on dealing with the moment to moment drama than enjoying a nice meal.

He started laughing involuntarily, looking at Trisha with a slightly embarrassed expression.

”I… I think for the first time in a very long time, Junior made a joke at someone else’s expense who actually deserved it a little. And I really wanted to laugh when- Well, I’m still sorry he did that… But, my God…” Casey chordled.

“With the constructs? She did deserve it.” Trisha asked, trying to think of any actual joke Junior had made. She’d been too stressed to find anything funny, really. She was the one that’d have to deal with-

“Fuck, Tansy’s going to remember!” She stopped suddenly, looking at Casey with wide eyes.
“I- Well- I don’t really like mind wiping or anything, but her being… Third Eye open… is… not great…”

”I’m not gonna lie, Babe, I think it’s… Well, maybe honestly the best thing for her. Hopefully with Magic in her eyes, she’ll see the world from a new perspective. Whatever it is, it’ll be more grounded than whatever airbag she is right now.” he shrugged slightly.

”But, yeah. The constructs. I honestly didn’t think he kept his Orange Lux in practice for stuff like that. That’s… Maybe a little worrisome for later.” Casey shook his head.

”Not that I’m worried, obviously. Hey… Do you want to uh… Dance a little?” he nodded his head out into the vague darkness, where a gathering of people had formed an impromptu slow dance area. There were even a few people playing instruments.

”Some of the cousins. They’re not gonna bother us, unless… I forget, do you- No. Nooooo, you don’t speak French! You’re safe!” he grinned, slightly tucking himself to gently suggest her path.

Trisha didn’t agree that knowledge of magic would change Tansy in any way, but she held back a comment on it. She didn’t want to even get close to an argument over someone she was trying her best not to care about. It making her more grounded was… A little funny to think about. Magic itself wasn’t exactly grounded.

She followed his nod towards the small gathering while letting him guide her that way. She wasn’t really a dancer… Not without a few drinks in her, at least. Normally that was when clubbing and she either had a goal in mind- flirting with someone- or was being dragged onto the dance floor by Cass.

“As long as you don’t mind me stepping on your feet, sure.” She smiled back. Though, the kind of dancing the people were doing didn’t look… like much at all. Just holding and swaying and moving a bit. That she could do.

“This isn’t my normal crowd.” She joked as they got closer, still smiling.
“Not because their French… I normally only dance at clubs! But I guess that might change? I don’t really plan on going clubbing that often anymore.”

There was a rousing ”Caseau!” as the little group greeted him. Casey only took a moment to get them all acquainted with the fact that he was just there to dance. Nobody seemed to mind, save for one of the older looking people among them who pulled a flask out and was practically stuffing it into Casey’s hand.

Not that he’d deny it or anything. Casey grinned and took a few swigs before passing it to Trisha.

”I usually only dance with, y’know- The Brass used to organize dances and shit for GI’s on leave. They’d invite a bunch of young ladies who wanted to give the lonely troops a night of company, and they’d basically just dance and listen to us tell stories. Felt like a hostess club, I imagine. There was always plenty of liquor for us to loosen up with. So, that’s how I get through the feet stomping.” he grinned.

“You need alcohol to deal with my feet, huh?!” Trisha pouted teasingly, taking just one swig- with a slight grimace- before handing it back. As she did, one of her feet moved forward to step on his. It was purposefully light- but even if it wasn’t, she wasn’t exactly heavy enough to do any damage. At least, not with the front of her feet. The low heels were a bit pointier…

Then she stepped back with a little smirk, hands moving to his shoulders.
“Since you’re so experienced, you can show me how to do it.”

His hands wrapped around her waist, and when he cleared his throat, the musicians in charge of pace politely slowed things down. Less of a ballroom and more of a slow dance, with the various couples and otherwise close companions tightening up their circles in response. It was, as Trisha presumed, a nice and slow paced circling. And, for once, with a group who didn’t want either of their attention more than necessary.

As soon as the flask got passed back to where it belonged, nobody had a word to say to Casey. Only flashing smiles and acknowledgement.

”The… The other thing, about all the silent watchers? I… I get comfort knowing they’re family. Like these guys. We don’t talk, I barely know them; but we don’t have to know one another to be friendly and recognize commonality. There’s no pressure coming from anywhere. Maybe I could be sad I don’t know them better, but the fact that they recognize me and greet me, no matter how shallow, is enough to make me feel warm. And I get sad, I guess… Thinking about how that whole thing just went down. I think we could all recognize how it seemed like… Well, like they didn’t want to interact with you anymore than they did us.” Casey softly explained, the final comment lingering in the air.

“They don’t want to interact with me.” Trisha replied bluntly, eyes dimming slightly. A hint of coldness, though not towards Casey. It wasn’t just a seemed like, it was absolutely reality. Maybe it wasn’t fair. But maybe it was her fault in the first place for directing her resentment towards her siblings growing up.

But Ezra and Tansy had already been adults by the time Trisha really understood what her Mother was feeding her, and started pushing back at her Father and the perceived problems. When did it start? When she was seven and tried to push the six year old Georgiana down the stairs, maybe?

“Well, Tansy kind of does. She enjoys torturing me. Ezra sends me more money monthly just so he doesn’t have to talk to me. The three sisters I lived with… Well, Sabrina was nice enough. I don’t think she has the ability to not be nice. But I don’t think she actually liked me.” Who would?

She paused, looking out from their little bubble at the others around them. Distant family to Casey… she didn’t have the same in any way. It was either half-siblings who hated her, or cousins in a different country who didn’t care for her outside of the gossip they might get. She barely knew her Mother’s side of the family just like Casey barely knew these guys, but there was none of the same friendliness.

“It’s what happens when one man has over twenty children with different women. Everyone is closer to their Mother’s side, or just doesn’t like anyone at all.”

”There was no love to begin with…” he frowned, pulling her in just a little tighter.
”We’re never gonna let things be like that. Even if you wanted to have children with nineteen other men, I’d make sure my child knew what love was… As fucked up as everything around us was, there were always moments of love in between the discipline. It’s where my nostalgia comes from, for my White magic. It’s a necessary part of the Tribe.” he shrugged.

Knowing that Tansy’s only motive was to break what she disliked made him feel terrible about how she’d been brought here. Sure, they got a great deal of fun listening to her over the various bugs Lynette had managed to plant. Getting second hand information from her perspective made it all so much better, given her terribly aggressive yet completely veiled private attitude.

It was pretty funny to know that she kept the mask on in private. Like it wasn’t a mask, but just a fleshy covering that she could never really rip off.

”Whose Tansy’s Mom? That family’s gotta be a nightmare to be a part of.” he asked cursorily, imagining what kind of nightmare cult bred that devil into the world.

“No idea. Maybe she had her and left, maybe she was adopted. She’s… thirteen years older than me, so if her Mom was ever around, it wasn’t in my memory.” Trisha shrugged one shoulder. All the suggestions she was adopted had led Tansy to getting some kind of test… Which she said showed she wasn’t, but never shared the actual results. Trisha didn’t care. Tansy would always be her nightmare older half-sister, blood or not.

“Far as I can remember she was always attached to Dad. He had favourites that he actually spent time with. Tansy and Sabrina mostly… I think Brooke too? Tansy was the worst for it.” She explained as neutrally as she could. There was some jealousy there, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. Sure, Tansy didn’t have a Mom around, but she got a lion’s share of James’ attention.

Only Ezra got a similar amount, but that had never seemed positive to Trisha. It was far more similar to the attention she’d gotten from Maria growing up.
“Maybe Tansy actually spawned into existence from hell, or something.”

Casey’s face twisted into a surprised smile.
”I was literally just about to say that. She’s clearly an Apparition he spawned! She fills all the boxes! Shows up when it’s least convenient, speaks in riddles- It’s foolproof. She’s either a ghost, or she’s some rich guy’s test tube baby experiment where he got some Blind genetics company to turn his sperm into an egg so it could self-fertilize. Like… Well, does that sound on brand for him?” Casey asked, unable to stop himself from chordling after trying to trap his lips between his teeth.

Trisha shook her head.
“If he could do that, he probably would’ve skipped getting tens of women pregnant and made us all like that. Though he probably wanted loads of different… genes…” She made a face at that. It was gross to think about. That really they were all experiments or something. Because he could have found someone who wanted ten children or whatever… Surely they existed.

“I wish she was an Apparition. Then we could seal her in something and throw it into the sea. But I don’t think she is… Maybe Dad really did make one of us all by himself. It would explain why he loved her so much when he’d rarely give the rest of us the time of day.”

Casey nodded in return, giving her a wink.
”Doesn’t it make a lot of sense? Unless-”
His brow furrowed, and his grin became a more somber frown.
”-Was ol’ Chuck a sentimental kind of guy? Maybe she was his Jane Seymour.” Casey implied like a grim portent.

His only extrapolated thought was as to whether or not Trisha would even be here if that had been the case. Surely, nobody knew whether or not Henry would’ve grown bored of Jane… It was only a few weeks after the Prince was born that she died, after all.

Trisha laughed immediately, shaking her head.
“No. Dad pretended to be sentimental and magnanimous or whatever, but he wasn’t in that way. I have a brother eight months younger than Tansy, so, if you do the math…” She trailed off, expression going from twisted humour to disdain.

There was a sister eight months younger than Trisha herself. Or was it seven? It didn’t matter. It was common… Probably more common than they knew, because there were women James got pregnant who didn’t tell him or exchange the child for money. There’d been some years where there seemed to be a surprise sibling every few months…

“He just wanted to spread his legacy, or something. Maybe it was because she was the oldest girl. She got all the love, while Ezra got trained to take over.”

Casey’s face went flat.
”I can’t believe I wasted empathy on that. Fuck, even now she plagues us; as she was trained to.”
He started to laugh, his own joke going over well with him.

”At least it’s all over. Never again! And now, we get to clear things up with this whole Father Wolf situation, and after that, deal with Mum. Then we’re home free, Babe! We can ditch this fucking pit. Go wherever we want, whenever we want.”

His voice hitched for a brief moment, as did his movements with the music. It brought them totally off-tempo, and he could see her face twisting slightly as she bridled beneath his hands.
”What? That’s the next step, right? It’s gotta be. We can’t deal with Mum until Leon’s safe, and that means you get the benefit too. That’s all I meant. Just because the notes are getting picked through, doesn’t mean we know everything.” he shrugged, waiting for the next downbeat to try and get them back on track.

Trisha looked up at him with slightly narrowed eyes, expression not relaxing much. As far as she was aware, they didn’t know anything. Sure, it was the next step… But it didn’t seem like something that could be solved in a few months. It seemed far more likely Lynette would die before they found Father Wolf.

Unless they all knew something she didn’t. Did he? He was over explaining it. Suspiciously. But maybe it was because he didn’t want to upset her. He was so worried about the possible reaction that he said everything he could to stop it… Frowning, she gnawed on her bottom lip and looked down towards their feet.

Surely he wouldn’t keep anything Sycamore found from her? Not when it was something that affected her so much. Or did he- and Leon- really not trust her at all? No, it couldn’t be that.

“Have they found… anything from the notes?” She asked after enough silence that it would be easy enough for Casey to listen and find the right moment to move again.

Casey nodded immediately, eager to at least give up the information he gave Ezra.
”They did. Leon told me. He had a meeting a couple of days ago, but he’s been sitting on the info trying to figure out what to do with it. Uh- Well, I told Ezra. Because, y’know, he’s a member of the Elite? It seems like whatever group- and it is a group, apparently- but, whatever group’s responsible for the killings have uh… Well, there’s a lot more people dead than we previously thought. Only, they’ve been replaced. Doppelgangers of some kind. Thinking about it now, I get a little creeped out. Makes me glad there’s so many people watching here.”

Doppelgangers? That… made sense for how easily they’d killed some fairly powerful Sycamites. If it was someone you ‘trusted’... No wonder she was still alive. Who would they have killed and imitated? Her sisters? Presumably it was easier to kill and replace Blinds, and she had surprisingly few of those around her.

Not that there were many people at all.
“So they could have replaced Sycamore Members? And probably have… Elite…” Trisha grimaced. It wasn’t something she wanted to think much about. She didn’t really care for most of the Elite. But the impact it could have was… bad…

“I guess White Lux can probably tell, right? So I guess it is safer to have everyone watching. Though… it’s not like whoever it is would try and kill Leon- and me- here, right? That’s hardly been the style so far. It’s not exactly sneaky at an event with so many people.”

Casey grimaced slightly. It was the precise reason that Security was on alert to begin with. He hadn’t anticipated the showout of the Tribe, but everyone else being Glassed up and having pounds of Oblivium Salts around for combat-capable Adepts to utilize in a pinch weren’t coincidences.

”That might be why security’s so high?” his grimace deepened, knowing he’d have explaining to do later.
”I’m… Sorry. Y’know this kind of thing is why I’m good with you, right? ‘Cuz you’re so good with me? When, y’know, me… Withholding things, and all… Is just because I don’t want you walking around with fear in your heart! We’re still gonna have a good night! Because, y’know, it’s almost over! We’ll be able to go back home soon, with a ring on your finger! And we’ll cuddle, and I’ll start reading you that story!” he was desperate to make up whatever he could toward her mood.

“But you just said that ‘might be why security’s so high’?! How- How are we meant to have a good night if something happens?” Trisha’s arms around him tightened as she grew tense. She was trying not to get upset. Really, really trying. Because she didn’t want to be.

It… It was fine. If it was just that something might happen with these Doppelgangers he’d withheld, it was fine. That was to protect her. Like he said, so she didn’t spend the whole evening scared. Not because they didn’t trust her with information. Of course the security would be extra if they didn’t entirely know what they were dealing with! They couldn’t know anything for sure!

She could deal with it. She could let this one thing go, because she loved him. Sure, he could have told her about the Doppelgangers earlier. But it wasn’t like he was hiding some major Sycamore discovery or plan from her… Just an attack that may not even happen!

“You can’t promise any of those things, can you? Because if something happens… Will you even be able to come home?” She tried to concentrate on the more ‘comforting’ things he said rather than the withheld information. But that pushed her towards panic too. Because would they be able to even do that? Or would she go home alone, because it was his job to deal with this sort of thing?

She closed her eyes for a moment, only looking more upset.
“I… don’t want to get upset with you right now…” She whispered incredibly quietly. She really didn’t. She was really doing her best to not go into fight or flight mode like she so often would.

”You’re doing amazing, Bee. I’m sorry. We’re right here together, right? Stay with me here and now.” he tried to redirect her softly, his voice lowering to a gentle pleading tone.

He felt awful every time something like this happened. At least this one was entirely on him; after all, he’d slipped up. The conversation with Ezra was still echoing in his ears. The problem with St. Portwell. He didn’t want those problems being Trisha’s, it just… Wasn’t fair! It wasn’t, that he had to hide things from her because her general reaction was just as bad as the one she gave if she found out a week later. The solace of giving her the truth wasn’t some kind of cathartic ritual, it was escaping a minefield just to get funneled into machine guns.

She was lucky that was how he made his living. He hugged into her, hands rubbing her sides and back as he held her close. The smallness of her body never ceased to amaze Casey; how she fit so snugly against him like there was a slot built just for her. He wondered then and there if they should just leave. To Hell with the speech. To Hell with proposing in front of everyone. Just leave, and curl up with that wonderfully warm book on the comfy couch.

”I love you… You’re the greatest.” he intoned quietly, almost keeping it to himself if he hadn’t been looking down at her directly.

For a moment Trisha just hugged into him, not saying anything at all. She was trying to do what he’d asked. Staying with him here and now. Being in the moment and not letting her feelings take over for once. It was hard, after everything else she’d found out today. But she wanted him to feel like he could tell her things. Why would he if she blew up over something like this?

Something… Not major? Maybe it was major. It was a possible attack. But only possible. And knowing about and dealing with threats like that was his whole job. It was a bit easier if she thought of it as Temple business- work for him- rather than something related to Sycamore and her.

“I love you too.” She whispered, still buried against him. She didn’t manage to relax, but she didn’t seem so upset as she finally looked up at him again. She’d managed to get over it for now. Whether she’d actually moved forward or just suppressed it to feel resentful over later, she wasn’t sure.

“How much longer do we have? Until your speech, and until we can go home. I… don’t think we can leave right after… It might look bad? Especially when I’ve already kicked out my own family?”

”Soon. Like, soon, really. I speak, Lynette speaks, then Leon concludes the official presiding of the event, so… If you think you can sit through Mom waxing poetic until I go and pull her off the mic, then we’ll stay until the event is ‘over’ for anyone important. Otherwise, I don’t really fuckin’ care. Leon can handle that bit himself, I don’t really need to listen to her talk about how much she’s going to miss everything.” Or how she’d be awaiting the day that she’d see everyone again.

He was a bit worried over the prospect of what she was going to say. It’s not like she had to filter what she was saying through him. It was only by his and Leon’s combined effort that they were able to use the scripture and sermonize over what was to come in the way they did. He figured, maybe, it was only fair that she be allowed to say what she wanted. Even if it’d be totally veiled, the siblings had learned to pick it up.
And the only one sobbing over it was Junior. Because their mother enabled his behavior, and he knew that she was the only thing between him and serious repercussions.

”It really is up to you. Mazie knows the signal, and I can give it from anywhere. We could walk off the stage together, out into the darkness, then be gone in a flash. Your wish is my desire.” he cooed.

Trisha wasn't immediately sure what she wanted. The true desire was to just go home, but that was covered up by all the anxieties about looking good in front of people. She didn't even care about them that much but… She still cared about what everyone thought. And there were some people she cared about. Cass, Mia, Ed, Hari, Gin…

“I think I can suffer through Lynette's speech. If it's just those two, then… we should stay. We can leave as soon as everything is actually done! Then it doesn't look so bad. If there's just Lynette after you and we leave right away…" She trailed off, biting her lip again.
“It's fine! I- we- can get through it. At least it's just us, Cass and Leon left down at our end?"

”Oh, I’m certain someone’s filled the void after we left. Your sister still had food on her plate; there’s no way someone like Gin didn’t make her way up to the box for Lynette cuddles and wind up stuck at Cass with more food to eat.” he admitted casually, as if he didn’t know exactly who was sitting in his seat.

”Y’know she likes you guys more than us? It’d be kind of cute if I didn’t feel like I was losing my other baby sister.” he joked lightly.

---

The gentle dancing was nice; at least once she was vaguely settled back down. Casey managed to muster enough to casually chat about that it was almost totally distracting from the oncoming pain of the near future. He knew life was going to get harder. Nights like this wouldn’t exist until everything was settled. But, for now, they had one another, and at least she still loved him. He was betting more and more on that lately; that she was crazy about him like he was crazy about her. Probably crazier.

So, she’d tough it out. And he was confident that their life together after everything was said and done would be way more peaceful than it was now. That secrets wouldn’t need to exist, because there’d be nothing to keep them over. Just love and trust, and peace and quiet. For now, as they made their way back through the main pathway into the dining area after stopping for a few more drinks, the two of them arrived at the table once more.

Before ascending, Casey took Trisha’s hand and kissed it, then helped her up the stairs like a gentleman before letting her go back into her seat.

”Uh-oh, Gin! Get real small, maybe he won’t notice!” Leon intoned conspiratorially across the table.

Ginara, big grin on her face, tucked into a ball on the wide-seated chair as Casey curled over the top of it to look down. Then, back up at Leon.

”Notice what?” he asked, purposefully scooting his chair backward.
He swung around to sit down, half stuffing himself on top of her ass first. She snorted with laughter, smacking at Casey’s back in turn.

”Hey Lee! Hey Cass! God, I wonder why my seat feels so lumpy!”

"Whoa, it don't happen to feel like a Ginara shaped lump, does it?! She went missing just a couple of minutes ago!" Cass laughed, leaning forward with a grin. She twisted her body from side to side as if trying to see what- or who- was under Casey.

Trisha didn't quite laugh, but she did smile at everyone as she sat down. It was a nice scene to come back to, even if she was still feeling off after finding out about the possible attack. The time with just Casey had helped- without it she'd probably struggle to come back at all.

"Whoa, wait! I think I see an arm! Gin?! Are you in there?! Holy shit, Casey, I think you're crushing her with your- heh- fat ass!" Cass only made herself laugh more, one hand jerking out to slap Leon's arm as she did.

”Smells like luuuuuube!” Ginara yelled from behind Casey, a cackle escaping her lungs as they compressed down.

She was slapping at his back and flailing her arms wildly, causing Casey to laugh aloud for a solid ten seconds before finally standing up.

”Oh! So, you were in my seat, huh?” Casey spun, a playful tone in his voice as he chided the young woman in front of him.

She stood up, giving him a hug before scooting to one of the empty seats that Ezra and Tansy had previously occupied.

”Hey, look who's back! Trisha, how’s Tansy?” Junior asked down the table, the little table utensil golem waving its fork up at her in a friendly way.

Gin reached across the table trying to grab it, only to get a fork to the hand for her troubles.

”Augh! Little fucker! Ignore Chris Hansen’s next visit, Trisha; talk to me instead! How’s it goin’? You wanna play on the server tomorrow when everything’s quiet? Or, are you doin’ that shopping thing?” she asked Trisha sincerely, rubbing her hand in frustration.

What shopping thing? Trisha tilted her head, glancing at Casey for a moment before looking back at Gin.
“Well… Mia's already said we're playing tomorrow, so I guess that's the plan. It'll be nice to do something quiet after the last week, though I'll have to do some things for the bees first."

Then she glanced down the table towards Junior, not quite able to just ignore him. Not when it might cause him to make more of a scene again.
“And Tansy's fine. Back to normal already."

"It's just a server you're hosting right, Gin? There doesn't happen to be room for one more, does there?" Cass couldn't help but ask, leaning forward with a grin. She'd heard about the Minecraft playing here and there, of course, but it was never talked about so directly in front of her that she… wanted to ask to join. But now it did feel like some fun she was missing out on! Not that she'd mind if they decided the numbers they had were already enough.

“I thought you were bored of Minecraft." Trisha asked, looking at Cass with an almost accusatory stare.

"That was just an excuse to not have to play with Sal! Y'know he manages to make Minecraft fucking competitive too! Sometimes I just wanna chill!"

“I didn't realise you knew how to chill." Trisha's gaze softened, her lips pulling up into a lightly teasing smile. It made sense, though. Sal was half the reason she got so aggressive on competitive games… and Cass had been dealing with that so much longer. He really was a good friend until a game came out, whatever it was.

"Whoa!" Cass grasped her chest jokingly, grinning at Trisha before looking up at Leon.
"You hear this, Babe?! Trisha thinks I can't chill! I can totally chill, can't I?!"

”It’s my belief that the two of you define the concept differently. I’ve got no spine to comment any further.” Leon replied, sticking his tongue out playfully.

”There’s always room, Cass. But, it’s technically Trisha time for us, so she’s in charge of deciding whether or not you’re gatekept.” Gin smiled, hoping her tone sounded playful despite the truth in her words. Jekyll was manifest well, and her social battery was charged enough that she could actively navigate sarcasm without making it sound like she was being woefully serious.

”If you get rejected, send me a message Cass! I admin the Temple youth server!” Junior called out with the verbal inflection of a wink emoji. Gin groaned like someone was talking about their sick fetish in response.

"Nah, I ain't gonna go bully fucking youths! I ain't fit that term for a few years!" Cass easily shot back, letting any bad vibes from how Junior talked completely slide off her. She didn't seem bothered by what Gin said either- she could pick up the hints of playfulness, and was perfectly fine if Trisha didn't want her joining anyway.

“But you'll happily bully us?" Trisha raised her eyebrows at Cass.

"Uh, no- it's just teens who remind me of my lil brothers, y'know! I can't hold back wanting to destroy all the shit they made." Cass joked, smiling at the memory of all the houses in Minecraft she'd blown up. They couldn't even do anything about it, because they were only able to play on the shitty laptops they'd scraped and saved and begged for thanks to her computer skills.

“So long as you don't destroy anything we've made… You can join."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't wanna ruin your hard work." Cass grinned, shooting finger guns at Trisha.
"I'll add to it! There's a ton of cool shit I've wanted to build in Minecraft, but there's always been someone tryna blow it up! And normally succeeding! So… this'll be fun! I can probably do it on the side of some coding or shit- or, uh, pay full attention to it, I guess. Oooh but I gotta build that thing for-"

“Yourself, right?" Trisha interrupted, before Cass could start talking about the website she'd asked Cass to build for them just that morning. Because then she'd have to explain why… and the why was to distract Cass so she didn't tell Leon about something they were both going to be present for!
“That magic tracking thing?"

"Right, totally what I meant, y'know me so well." Cass nodded, totally convincingly.

Junior stood up with a shunting motion, stuffing his chair into the empty seat behind him. Thankfully, that cousin had long since shuffled off to some vacant corner. He didn’t say anything, rather pushing his chair in once he slipped out and letting the little golem crumble back into its constituent pieces. He shuffled off toward Lynette’s side of the table, but not before leaving a lingering look of annoyance for everyone at that end of the table to deal with.

Gin scoffed, shaking her head.
”Fuckin’ stay gone.” she muttered, turning back to Trisha and Cass and finding her smile in both of them.

”Anyway! There’s plenty to do and learn, Cass. It’s not, uh… Not normal Minecraft. Lots of mods! Trisha farms resource trees, like, groves of trees that make fruits and you put the fruits in a machine. They convert them into all kinds of resources!” Gin proudly announced, happy that Trisha had a niche she enjoyed besides just building things.

”Y’know, Casey, she won’t sit still for shit but all of a sudden she wants to spend a bunch of time stationary in a bed.” Leon shrugged, grin half forming across his face.

Casey picked up on the sarcasm.
”We’ll hook her up to one of those Steven Hawking ass vocoders next time she’s sick; she’ll get all her programming done then and only spend half the time gaming when she’s peppy.” he smiled back, looking from Leon to Cass before sticking his tongue out at her.

”I love you being solution oriented. It’s awesome, you’ve always got a plan.” Leon praised in return, his grin widening.

”Oh my God that’s actually a sick project, Cass! Let’s fucking develop a speech generation tool for you! Except, like, an interpretive coding system! How fucking cool would that be!?” Gin leaned forward, sticking a fork into Ezra’s leftovers.

"God, it'd be cool, but can you imagine tryna speak out the syntax?! Like I'd just be shouting ‘curly brackets' all the fucking time!" Cass shook her head, laughing.
"And it ain't like I can't type… I mean this time was hard but- either I'm in so much pain I ain't got the brains to code anywhere, or my fingers are itching to do something!"

Then she shoved an elbow straight into Leon's side, shooting him a playful glare.
"Hey, I ain't wanting to spend anytime stationary in bed! I'ma be spending all the time stationary at my computer which is totally different! I'm sorry, Babe, but you're gonna have to accept that the first love in my life is always gonna be the code!"

Trisha giggled slightly, leaning towards Casey with a smile. She reached out to rub Casey's arm.
“No matter what solutions you come up with, she'll still fall into a coding hole for days… But a speech generation thing would be interesting. It's not like you have to say the syntax, Cass. If you tailor it to a specific language it'll just… know. You can tell it to create a method or an if block or something."

"True… Oooh… Just the thought of tryna code something like that has me getting all excited." Cass grinned, rubbing her hands together, quickly making it obvious that Casey's solution to keep her away from the computer while healthy had backfired with Gin's suggestion. Though it had been a joke from the two men, at least, she was now seriously thinking about it.

”I’m gonna get left for a block of text on a screen, I can’t believe it.” Leon pouted, mockingly throwing his hands in the air.

Though, from where he stood, anything that let her keep doing something with ease during the worst of times was better than nothing. Maybe she couldn’t code, sure, but there’s a high chance that with magic, anything could apply. Everything from a chair to a game controller could probably be rigged to the same few spells, with everything running on a Prismatic system to reflect the light of the spells around like a closed power circuit.

Casey was having roughly the same consideration, thinking about all the applications she could probably weave into the system through her own powerful magic.

”If you can’t beat ‘em, you gotta join ‘em, Lee.” Casey grinned and shrugged, looking at Trisha and smiling as he reached for her hand.

”Holy fuck this guy’s a sap. Did you hear that?” Gin chuckled.

“He’s my sap." Trisha defended him immediately, taking Casey's hand and squeezing. She couldn't stop herself from looking at him with a just as- if not more- sappy expression as his.

"One of us, one of us, welcome to the coding dark side!" Cass laughed, grinning at Gin.
"C'mon, does it matter how sappy it is if it gets him to the side of technology?!"

“It’s not like I'd ever leave him for code." Trisha shrugged, managing to tear her eyes away from Casey for just a moment to shoot a teasing smile at Cass. Sure, she got pretty obsessed with getting things done sometimes, but if Casey wasn't with her during it… she'd always end up wanting to go to him at some point. Cass, on the other hand, forgot anyone else existed.

"Whoa… I wouldn't actually! Well-" Cass' lips pulled up into an wicked grin as she got closer to Leon, stretching up to speak in his ear. She didn't actually bother whispering, so it just had the illusion of being secret.
"You're safe ‘till someone makes a satisfying sex robot!"

She pulled back, loudly cackling like an evil witch.

Leon gave a big, almost comical frown in return.

”God, I’m just a dog!” he simpered, finally tucking his head into his arms and resting them down on the table. He then proceeded to weep in the most exaggerated fashion he could, letting his chest and back heave up and down in big arching motions.

”Ohhhhh geeze, look what you’ve done, Cass! The man provides mind blowing sex, and you want to replace him with a robot! The absolute state of modern women is crazy!” Casey blurted out, his tone as sarcastic as he could make it so he didn’t catch flak from any of the surrounding ladies.

”Honestly, most days I could go for a robot. Gimmie something that computes at a quantum speed… If… Y’know, you know what I mean.” Gin furrowed her brow, tossing one hand up.
”I… Don’t even know what I mean, honestly.”

"You mean that a robot would be able to calculate the best outcome and immediately follow the steps to get there! It certainly wouldn't start fucking sobbing!" Cass joked.
"No complaints! Not overly emotional! No need for breaks! Us modern women need a lot!"

“Well it's a good thing I'm a rich lady from the past. All I need is servants to pamper me- bringing me fruit, fanning me, pedicures and the like. No robots." Trisha intoned, sarcasm much more muted but still there.
“My standards are more realistic."

"Alright Lady Vanburen, you stay in the past with your humans!" Cass cackled, moving to rub the back of her exaggeratedly sobbing boyfriend.
"There there, Baby, a robot could never beat your boxing skills, sexual prowess and sparkling personality."

Leon immediately perked up, practically flinging himself back into an upright position as he reached for his glass of wine. He had a big smile as he took a sip.
”There we go, sorry for a second I was having this horrible nightmare about being replaceable. Like that could ever be true.” he laughed aloud.

”I’d say it would take several other people to replace you in all the categories. No man on Earth can beat him in all three… But, a robot? I-”

”-You two are the gayest wingmen I’ve ever seen. You both have girlfriends, quit circle jerking. Also, goodnight.”

Junior waltzed back down the aisle from the other side, and stood over the chair Gin was in. Index fingers on both hands poked down at her, tucking into and pulling on her hair in the tight bun it was in.

”Animal! I’ll bite, I’ll do it!” Gin grunted up, opening and closing her teeth in a gnashing motion. She wasn’t going easy, either… If she made contact, it would hurt.

But Junior seemed annoyingly adept at this game. Much like his brothers, the good at this gene was natural in the realm of physical activity. And for Junior, hand-eye coordination was always a focal point. Delicate tasks, and being able to implement that delicate control through remote constructs, came as naturally to him as remote autonomous operations were to Casey.

Casey threw a middle finger up.
”Night June. Don’t trip and break a leg or anything.” Casey said as genuinely as he possibly could.

”God, yeah. Good luck with the speech, you’ll be in prime sniping territory. It can be like the old days.” Junior pursed his lips before stepping away. Down the stairs he went, sauntering off toward the food court to stack a box of leftovers for home.

”Christ…”

”I mean, we are kinda gay.” Casey started to laugh aloud, head tilting back.

”He’s twenty-three, right? Fucking hell, my brothers grew outta calling shit gay like it was a bad thing when they were teenagers!” Cass shook her head at Junior’s back. Almost every interaction had her wanting to beat some sense into him… She’d probably be able to win now she was super juiced with Green Lux! But he wasn’t her little brother, so had to defer to the actual relatives!

“Feels like highschool all over again.” Trisha commented, glad that Junior was leaving- if a bit surprised he wasn’t sticking around for Lynette’s speech. But she was glad he wouldn’t be there for the proposal. Everyone else in the family- even Lynette- had some positive impact on Casey’s life, even if small. But Junior? There didn’t seem to have been any.

”Yeah, yeah… I, for one, am glad my boyfriend’s kinda gay! Makes the orgies way more fun! Y’know I dated a straight guy, like, once and it was the worst! Do not recommend. Us queers gotta stick together!” Cass snickered, grinning at Leon.

“Wasn’t he also super religious? Wasn’t that more of the problem?”

”Well, yeah, but that wasn’t so obvious going in!”

Casey and Leon were laughing between one another as the two of them kept listening to Trisha and Cass.

”I’ve been reviewed scathingly. Holy fuck.” Casey laughed aloud.

”I’ve never been religious in my entire life! I mean, we’re not at a heretical Christian harvest event or anything!” Leon tried to hold in laughter long enough to speak, but by the time the sentence was over, he was buckled at the neck laughing his head off.

”Only to the mainstream Denominations!” Gin said cheekily.
”Now, tell me about the orgies, Cass!” she grinned, leaning in and biting her lip.

”It’s only been one proper one so far, but-”

“You can tell Gin about the fucking orgies in your own time, Cass!” Trisha interrupted, absolutely not wanting to hear about the orgy or anything adjacent to it. Quite frankly, it was bad enough having some idea of what Cass and Leon got up too. She wasn’t a prude or anything, she just didn’t want to know.

She then turned to Casey with a joking pout.
“Would you believe me if I said he was worse religion wise.”

”Depends on your definition of religious, Trish! He was part of one’ve those polygamous cults! Like, sure, you do you and have multiple wives, but you gotta tell me about your first one and let me bang her too! I ain’t here for the whole one man many women thing… No way! Dude thought going to uni was an opportunity to collect more, god damn!” Cass shook her head, laughing. A finger jerked out to point at Casey.
”And you’re clearly Trishasexual, so you’re fine!”

”I’d agree with you, yeah. I’m,- Yeah. Trishasexual.” he looked back at her, squeezing her hand as he nodded in agreement with Cass.

”Oh, yeah- We’re definitely not down that branch of the Schism. Although, Lynette principled marriage in our codes with polyamory in mind from the jump. As many partners as are willing to participate are recognized as valid by the Temple. Even if, y’know, the state doesn’t necessarily allow that sort of thing.” Gin giggled to herself.

”Good thing you’re first in line right now. If you ever wanna get hitched, anyone joining in after that needs to adjust to our system instead of you having to adjust. That way when you inevitably get your robot husband, and I have my ghost wife, we’ll all be a hunky-dory foursome.” Leon grinned widely.

”Hey now, I’m already that ghost’s consort, so I getta piece of that too!” Cass laughed, grinning back. While she wasn’t actually worried, because they’d already had plenty of good discussions about boundaries… There was always that little risk when polyamory was involved. She’d been bitten in the ass by it before.

”Polyamory is different from polygamy anyway- at least, how those other religious groups see it! It’s all about the man’s power and having loadsa wives and kids! Normally the women ain’t really getta choice- whereas when it’s polyamory it tends to be! It’s way more equal! I’m polyamorous, but I wouldn’t want like five fucking spouses while they all only have me! That’s just fucking… I dunno… Not equal!” She couldn't stop herself from going on a little impassioned rant, jumping up with her hands balling up into fists in front of her to go with it.

“Nobody’s trying to convince you to have five spouses- or be one of five.” Trisha covered her mouth with her free hand to try hide her laugh- but it didn’t really work when it was loud enough to be audible. Cass was just getting so passionate about something that wasn’t a problem here.

”Oh- Yeah- I know! Just thinking ‘bout that guy got me all pissed off again!” Cass let out a little huff, ass dropping back to her seat.
”People just still assume, y’know. ‘Oh you’re poly, you wanna be one of many wives’- uh, no!”

Trisha stopped trying to hide her laughter, doing it openly now.
“If anyone needs multiple partners to handle them, it's you. I think you’ve found the one person who can. You’re welcome, by the way.”

”Don’t take that kind of credit just yet, Trisha. Lelou’s not not that type of mistress. She doesn’t mind consorts sorting themselves out, but I’m pretty sure it’s all set up for her in the end. That’s gonna be a hard nut to crack.” Leon admitted with a joking tone.

”Wait, you guys are banging the ghost? I thought-”

”-I’m not going further than that! Trisha’s orders.”

Casey giggled again, shaking his head.

”If anyone can handle it, it’s Cass. We’ve all got our strengths, after all.” he interjected, throwing a thumbs up at her with a goofy smile.
”We did the world a favor by hooking them up. It’s like two little kids tied to one another. We can leash them both to the same pole while we go into the restaurant.”

Trisha nodded, smiling. She honestly did think it was a good thing in the end they’d gotten together… Even if it gave them headaches every now and then. It meant Cass was around more, and she was learning to… tolerate Leon.
“Mhm, it’s nice not having to worry. They’ll sort themselves out.”

”Whoa… You’re at least gonna leave us food, right?!” Cass laughed.
”And you’re one to talk, Trish! You’re the ones literally joined at the hip! At least me and Leon can spend a couple of hours apart to cause chaos in separate locations! Damn, you make it sound like I was prowling the streets looking for the next person to drag into my bed and tie down!”

“You weren’t doing that?”

”No way! I do my hunting exclusively in clubs- or your house!”

”Well, it was their house. Makes sense to me, y’know?”

The various speakers until now had been cursory guests, lesser members from the box, or otherwise weren’t people worth being interested in listening to for an extended period. None of the siblings, and Grandpa Max took his turn just after Casey and Trisha left to escort Tansy and Ezra. At this point, it was vacant, shuffling between the last “act” and the local Emcee: Hari. She spent the entire night at the other end of the table standing up and passing through a little swinging door on the other side, seeing people off and inviting others up.

She even had a bag of things. Rewards, trophies, letters of appreciation from the New Dawn’s Board of Trustees… Like it was a business… However, it was about to be Casey’s turn. As the guest from the Mid-West branch was wrapping up, Hari leaned over the table trying to get Casey’s attention. She was tough to miss in that regard, and he chuckled to himself as he cleared his throat and waved a free hand at her.

”Well, it’s that time folks. Wish me luck.”

”What luck? Go, do a crime.” Leon grinned, leaning forward and putting his hand out for Casey to grab.

He did, and they exchanged a warm glance.

"You've got this, dude! Go break a leg!" Cass grinned, leaning her whole body across the table to slap Casey's upper arm while Leon still held his hand.

Trisha smiled softly at him, knowing what was coming… Or at least, some of it. She didn't know exactly what he'd said. Hopefully not too much about her aside from the proposal. She wasn't sure if she could deal with that.
“Good luck, Casey." Her warm, loving smile said more than she could muster in words, at least.

Casey smiled back at both girls, leaning and kissing Trisha on the lips. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes said everything he needed them to. Excitement and anticipation abound. Gin cleared her throat almost behind him due to his twisted position in the seat.

”Time for?” Gin asked with suspicion in her voice.

”I’m speaking, dude. I’m-”

Casey had been watching Hari walk out. She greeted the man with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Sent him back into the box and down the aisle toward the seat he’d been in on the other end. He was coiled in wait for the call now.

”-Now, Family and Fellowship; before we let you all get on with your night in peace, we have just a couple more key note speakers coming. Next up, someone who I know is, if nothing else, concise in what he’s got to say. He’s not too heavy, after all; because he’s our Brother. The newly appointed Chief of Security for the New Dawn here in the great United States of America. Someone who’s served his country, and serves his Faith now with just as much valiance.”

Casey was already embarrassed and a little ashamed. Maybe she was speaking from a place of true belief; that he was doing all of them a favor by letting this coup boil up and over the rim of the pot beneath him. All he really felt was that it was best for him if the situation crumbled. He had a cushion. And the people, well not all the people, wouldn’t just die because the edifice that was the Temple upended from its place. Life goes on.

As he got to the door, just as he felt Mia and a few others patting him on the back, he locked eyes with Lynette. The conversation existed only in the briefest flash of consciousness before both released one another from that psychic grasp. No words needed to be exchanged. Maybe, between the two of them, they found a way to move beyond them entirely. He felt everything that she was willing to give him, and he didn’t hunt for more. She would feel everything she wanted to, reaching at every little vestige returning to her own consciousness.

It was Love. Nostalgia. Despair. Triumph and Anguish. And, most of all, a lingering sense of peace that pervaded his mind like a quiet ringing in the night. Almost hopeful in a certain sense. He wasn’t baffled so much as he was suspicious. The fact that she wasn’t constantly railing against them and attempting to block movements or assert her control over the situation was at best a cause for suspicion. And so, he could only return so much to her; which only made her placid reaction to his blatant withholding even more strange.

But it was far more simple than he gave credit for… Some things, one must do because they’re right. Others, they do because they wish to be right.

”Please, help me welcome the shy big brother I’ve come to know and love. Our Executive Officer, and a Blade of the First Degree in the Order of the Knights of the New Dawn: Casey Richoux!”n Hari finished off just as he was approaching the door, and spun just in time to catch him coming through before he slinked into her embrace. They didn’t exchange any words, rather letting Casey get to the podium where he was meant to be.

The crowd was mostly involved in itself thankfully, though a fair few people bothered to pass applause upward toward him as he settled in. He didn’t have any notes, and waved to the people he could see whose attention was his, rather than their meal’s. He only waited a moment to let the lingering emotions from Lynette pass on into the dark.

”I’d like to tell you all a bit about what I’m thankful for.” He smiled, his head nodding slightly.
”I memorized it all, but I picked a few out; I like to organize things chronologically, so I’ll go from where I left off last year until now.”

Casey took a deep breath, looked back, and smiled at the table in spite of the coming days. It was just a glance, but it started at one side with the beginning, and fell onto the present at the other end. Hopefully, she’d be the future too. Turning his head back to the crowd, he waved his left hand backward.

”I’m eternally grateful to our God, who smiles upon us all in this joyous gathering where faith and love meet. And from Him, my Family. My Father, may he rest in peace, and my Mother who remains resolute. Charming and Graceful as always is Our Lady: Amen.”

He paused for a brief moment as people gathered there resounded his sentiment.

”I’m thankful to have ended my year back in Europe, spending quality time with my extended family while working with Coalition forces in the Greater European Recovery Effort. My many cousins in Prague and Germany live interesting lives, and I’m incredibly grateful for the hospitality I was shown from December to February.”

Not to mention they were invaluable when it came to bolstering the work forces that he was tasked to. Many of them were studied Clerics and Primal Bolsterers who used the Abstraction-Boosting qualities of Orange Lux over the more mechanical enchantment aspects of its nature.

”I’m thankful to have been given the opportunity to further my career in the United States Armed Forces. In late April, upon returning home, I was offered a chance to climb the ladder to Colonel of the Army: A position I probably would not have done well in! And I’m incredibly thankful to the people who talked me down from the ladder on that one: I hope they’re doing well.” he laughed at the situation, prompting the audience to follow along as his cheery demeanor didn’t change.

”I’m thankful for all the people who I started working with in the Reserve after that. It wasn’t exactly a long period, but my Therapist is a champ. Couldn’t make it down, but that’s not a problem. I know they’re doing well. And, then, I’m thankful about having open arms to come home to just this September. It rolls back around to the people you’re closest to; it always does.-”

He turned, shifting his body and pointing behind him at his Mom’s side of the table.

”-My Mother, to whom I owe this chance to be in front of you all. And Hari, and Clarissa, my sister Elise; a fantastic team of ladies leading us spiritually every day. My Uncle, Furio, who you all should know from being in my seat the last decade at least. He’s been an amazing help in teaching me and showing me everything I’d need to be successful in my role at this point. He’s done a great job: Let’s give our Eye in the Pyramid a great big round of applause! Be thankful for them!”

Casey waited as the applause grew louder. The box behind him erupted, nobody above giving themselves hands.

”That’s right! I had every single one of them in my corner when I told them it was time to come home. And my Siblings: Mia, Max, Leon- And every single person on the security team who I’ve come to know over the last few months. My people are really something to be thankful for. A class act, a group of professionals in the civilian sector like this is hard to come by.”

He waved at the back rows, where he knew some of the security teams were clustered to watch and wait like anchors in the sea.

”And… Then, God gave us a night to be frivolous, and to speak with the dead as the veil thins the night. He gave us Hallow’s Eve. And my gift on that fateful night, just a month ago, was something that I’ll honestly say I never expected to receive. I really don’t know what it is about this person, folks… But I didn’t believe in true love until I saw her face. It was wet; she’d slipped in some mud and was looking for shelter. As part of the volunteering, I was just finishing up my work for the night, and leaving with Leon. Thank God he knew her, otherwise we may have waltzed right past. But we got to a dry place, and I got her a rag. And, as she wiped the mud off her face, I realized that there was a Disney Princess standing in front of me. In real life! Clear as day, there she was!”

Casey’s emphatic expressions were unusual, but not out of his range. But he certainly was using the best of his abilities to keep up.

”So, I did what any normal and sane individual would do: I stood there with my mouth agape trying to figure out what to say to beauty placed on Earth before me. And this is someone who my dear brother had absolutely zero interest in. Red flag? I’m sure you all may think that, but no! No, honestly, because I’m more thankful for the last month of my life than I am for… A lot of things, honestly. I’m thankful for a lot, but the last month has really seen my life shaping up in a clear direction. And, it’s thanks to everyone around me for providing that support structure for me to be able to soar. But-”

He paused, turning to Trisha finally and grinning before shifting himself so he could still be heard in the standing microphone.

”-Ehem… Little Miss Bumblebee? Come help me reach the top.”

The more Casey talked, the redder Trisha became. It didn't help that Cass had taken the opportunity to leap over Leon and snatch up Casey’s empty seat, crouching in it and hitting Trisha with the widest, smugest grin.

By the time he turned to her, her hands were covering her bright red face. Her eyes peered out between fingers at him. It was clear that she was overwhelmed and embarrassed, but more than that she was melting from the sappiness of everything he said. She was happy. But it was a lot to hear.

She wasn't exactly someone with a lot of confidence, and hearing him sing her praises only made her feel more shy. Her head began to slowly shake.

With enough tension, the opposite end of the table looked like they were going to burst. Lynette finally let herself break the dam.

”Tri-sha! Tri-sha!” she started to chant, hands banging on the table until the other girls started to join in.
Pretty soon the whole table they’d been sitting at was in on the fun, and it even spread to the other tables.

Casey bit his lip and tried not to laugh, reaching his hand out to Trisha despite knowing full well he was dozens of feet away. He playfully waggled his fingers, causing the audience to laugh below.

She didn't really have a choice anymore, even though she only felt more embarrassed by the chanting. She'd known she’d had to go up there but she'd thought that maybe… it wouldn’t be such a big thing? Somehow she’d be able to do it without drawing much attention to herself. At least she managed to avoid any kind of pats on the way up- knowing full well there'd be plenty of hugs on the way back.

The moment Trisha reached Casey, she took his outstretched hand and moved close to him wordlessly. Like she was trying to hide against him without being too obvious about it, or too openly sappy. But there wasn't much that could hide her heavy blush outside of just not seeing her face at all.

As she slotted into his side like the perfect player two, his arm wrapped around her and ratcheted her into place.

”She’s shy! So I’m not gonna make her speak. I’m just gonna bring her up here to show everyone. Like, look! This is what love at first sight looks like, everyone. Right here. When the war was over, I saw so many people come home to beautiful men and women waiting for them to start a family, or who already had that family of their own waiting for them. Some came home to children who were nearly grown! I had to wait. I like to think it’s all the time in the Foreign Legion.”

Again, he laughed, so the audience laughed. Though, Grandpa Max laughed especially loud at that one, as did a fair group of the cousins.

”But, really, now that you’ve all seen her, and I’ve forced her onto this stage like this, it’s really only fair that I embarrass her a little more.” Casey grinned.

Turning to face her directly, he gathered himself and spoke to her finally.

”Trisha: My life before I met you was a string of expectations and extrapolations based upon them. We met October Thirty-first. It’s November Thirtieth. In that short time, you’ve given me a million reasons to take the reins of life in my hands and run the show. And every single one of those reasons make me want to share it all with you.”

Casey’s hand slipped up and out of his vest with an incredibly smooth action, and his stance as he shifted down to one knee forced her out from behind the podium to stand in the open. Far enough in the open that everyone could also see Casey’s hands extending out as far as they could to present the little red box. Everyone present knew the box was one of Sylvie’s, and there was an instant flush of envy from just about everyone from the Richoux family in the box.
Then he opened it.

”Trisha? I wanna share everything with you forever. Marry me? Go someplace quiet with me?” he looked up at her, his words just barely echoing out of the microphone as he spoke.

Trisha didn't have the words to immediately respond, so she just nodded. Because even all the playthroughs she'd done in her mind didn't compare to it actually happening. But she wasn't embarrassed, rather overwhelmed by love and happiness that it choked her up. In that moment, it was just them. All of the people around them faded away.

“Y-Yes. Of course I'll marry you… I want to be with you forever, Casey." She whispered, eyes welling up slightly. What had she done to deserve this? To deserve him? Did she?

He certainly seemed to think so. She wasn't sure if she should just take the ring, or let him put it on for her. So her hands moved out to rest on his. Her tear stained eyes creased warmly at him, and her still red face was lit up by an incredibly soft smile.

“I love you, Casey. I can't wait to be your fiance… and then your wife." Then she bent forward to lightly, briefly kiss him.

As she leaned in for the kiss, the ring pulled a funny. Rather than waiting for his touch, it waited for his cover before unlocking itself and springing across a few inches to clamp down on Trisha’s finger in a perfect living snugness. There were either a few hidden features, or Sylvie had made some upgrades between then and now. But its brilliance and luster underneath the lights above them made it shine and shimmer on her hand.

He stood up, leaning down just enough to kiss her again before plucking her and holding her up in the air with gusto and passion. The crowd was a little docile. Maybe most of them heard a month and lost interest. But, there were plenty of people who gave claps and cheers as the two of them came together in an embrace.
Strong enough to keep her up with one arm, Casey let the other arm bring her hand up to the sky to put the ring on full display. Amazingly, there were quite a few camera flashes. There were members of certain press outlets present.

Behind them, the voices were much louder with Lynette egging them on. She didn’t exactly care how mad Furio was at Casey; he was expected to clap just as loud as Leon and Cass were genuinely. Or, rather, like Big Max! He had Sylvie wrapped tightly in one arm to the point that she could barely clap her own hands, all the while violently jostling her as he smashed his hands together and bellowed in praise. He’d already spoken about his grandson earlier, and sang his praises in spite of the absence.

”Then I think I can safely say I’ll be thankful for the rest of my life!” he said up to her with a great big smile on his face.
Rather than embarrass her further, he tucked her back into his arms, then let Trisha back down. But his gaze was firmly planted on her, eyes, locking gazes.

”I love you… I love you. Uhhhh-” he paused, turning slightly back to the microphone.
”-she said yes. I don’t know if you guys hea-”
There was a far more raucous confirmation, even some rhythmic table banging interspersed through the crowds below.

”-Oh, good, you heard. Uhhh… I just want to cap that off by saying that I’m incredibly thankful that you guys have all stuck with us for the many years since the disappearance of my Father. Year after year, you come to St. Portwell like Mecca, and you feast at our tables. I believe that, if this was our last year here, it would be the best. And my Father is so proud of all of you here. Thank you.”

Any talk about Gravity was talk that usually brought these crowds together. There were much louder cheers and claps and applause as Casey turned Trisha in his arms to make way back toward the little swinging door. Hari was holding it open with a big grin.

”Congrats you guys. Thanks for the shout out, Casey.”
As they passed by he leaned down and planted a kiss on top of Hari’s head, then started to shuffle before Lynette reached out and grabbed his coat.

”I don’t get anything?” she asked quizzically, having stood up knowing her turn was next.

Only Casey turned, blocking Trisha from her at first.
”I’m not sure what you mean. I-”

She wrapped both her arms around him, pulling her son in by the shoulders and wrapping him up tightly in her clutches.

”I’ll miss you when I’m gone… But we’re gonna have so much fun when I come back. I love you, Casey… I love you so much, my quiet boy.”

And then she let him go. He reactively pulled away in response, drifting backward for a moment until her face was clear, with a genuine smile becoming an ugly cry as all expression slowly turned to mush.

”Hey, hey! Save this for later- You’re on in like ten seconds!”

”God, I’m fucking hammered! Hari! Help meeeeeee!” she started to sob, before getting a lid on it long enough to make the walk.

It only took a second for Hari’s touch to linger before Lynette was sober enough to speak, and Casey took a deep, freeing breath. Still, they were getting congratulated up and down by people until they came back to their end of the table.

”Goddamn, Casey don’t play! Lock that bitch down, slide that ring on that finger! Congrats you guys!” Gin belted out first.

“Uh… Thanks?” It was phrased as a question at first as Trisha took a moment to parse through what Gin said to see the genuinity in it. She was getting more used to her, but sometimes it was still hard to not just have a ‘what the fuck’ reaction to things she said. But as she did, Trisha offered Gin a genuine smile.
“Thank you, Gin.”

”Holy fucking shit, congratulations! That was so. Fucking. CUTE!”

Trisha had barely gotten past Gin before she was literally attacked. Cass leapt at her, managing to fully wrap her limbs around Trisha without dislodging Casey’s hands on her shoulder. Cass’ arms trapped Trisha own at her side while her legs wrapped around her waist, giving her a proper Cass clinging hug.

Trisha’s immediate reaction was to panic and take a step backwards towards Casey, in the expectation he’d have to catch her when she fell over from the weight. But there wasn’t… actually… much?

Green Lux visibly came off Cass’ skin in pale lime curls of steam, her Joy uncontainable. She was actively lightening her own body so there was no issue hanging off Trisha, her momentum perfectly controlled so the initial latch hadn’t bowled her over.

“T-Thank you, Cass, you’re squeezing me!” Trisha managed to get out, not able to do much with Cass’ extra strong limbs wrapped around her. She’d controlled everything else to not hurt her, but still gone for the full bear hug… Thankfully not so much that it actually hurt her.

”Sorry! I’m just so fucking happy for you!” Cass let go and easily dropped to her feet, hopping round past Trisha to Casey. Her grin was bright.
”You gonna let go of Trish for a moment and accept the Cass hug, or do I gotta do it around that?!”

”Well, you climb up everyone else-” Casey chided, swinging his arm open wide waiting to accept Cass jumping up without letting go of his beloved Trisha.

Cass laughed, jumping up to give Casey the proper hanging hug too. She kept her weight light as it had been so he didn’t have to worry either- not because she thought he couldn’t take it, she just didn’t want to take any hands away from Trisha! But the squeeze was a bit tighter than Trisha was given… Though not as tight as a few days before when she’d nearly broken his spine. She was learning!

”I filmed the whole thing!” She shouted as she let go of Casey, resisting the urge to grab Trisha again.
”So if you wanna rewatch and relive the moment, you can! Ain’t the best angle, but I got it!”

“Thank you.” Trisha smiled, glancing at Cass for a moment before tilting her head back to look at Casey. Her expression was incredibly soft.
“Casey can probably White Lux stream his memory… But it’d be all from his point of view. I don’t want to see my face that much!”

Casey grinned.

”Actually, I got it from probably six different angles, and I’ll mash it all onto eight millimeter film for later. Magic.” he wriggled his fingers, head twisting to see his Mom for a brief moment.

He was doing everything he could to not listen to her, and felt there was some level of success in doing so. At least for the moment.

Leon made his way over slowly, but had been staring in pretty much the same place. It was hard for both of them to ignore that she was crying into the microphone. That, while they had given the crowd a terribly joyous moment, she was unraveling all of it with a practical eulogy for the Temple as they knew it.

Nevertheless, Leon hugged into Casey.
”That was good, Casey. Real nice. Came off smooth, like you wanted.”

”Thanks. I’d ask for improvement pointers, but that should really be a once in a lifetime kind of thing to do.” he replied, a grin on his face.

”I mean, fuck it. I’ll take ‘em, we’ll go home and I’ll propose to you a thousand times until its perfect.” He leaned down and kissed her again.

“It was already perfect.” Trisha responded as sappily as she could, eyes creasing cutely up at him. Besides, it was her turn when they got home. She’d set everything up in the morning… Not that it was going to be anything as big, or that she had much of a speech at all, but she still wanted to propose to him too. Especially since she had a ring.

“But I’ll take as many proposals as you want to give.” She continued, doing her best to keep his attention on her, at least. She could hear Lynette in the back of her mind, but was managing to completely ignore everything she said. It was more noticeable through Casey’s momentary shift in attention.
“I just really don’t know how you could make it better.”

”D’awww, so fucking cute- Wait!” Cass’ eyes went wide and she hit Leon’s arm.
”You already knew?! When?! How the fuck did you keep it from me?!”

Trisha opened her mouth to say that Cass already knew too, then closed it without any words coming out. Was she still keeping up the pretense that she hadn’t known? They’d done their best at that so far…

Leon and Casey gave both girls a look of quiet indignation. That either of them were even bothering at this point came off as silly to Leon, but Casey was proud of them for covering one another. His narrow eyes quickly broadened, and he shook his head.

”Y'know, little boys talk about getting married too, sometimes. We've always been in agreement about how we'd like to be.” Casey smiled, letting it turn into a devious grin.

”Calm, cool, able to hold onto the moment for magic.” Leon nodded in agreement, remembering what their Mother had taught them both about White magic.

”That's gonna be special for me, I think. I hope it's special for both of us, Babe, but… That memory is gonna be a spell someday. It's very powerful; I'll be nostalgic about it forever, I think. Especially with the fucking lead up, oh my Lord! Tonight has been the nicest dental session I've ever had. We were still pulling teeth left and right, but-”

”-Its almost over, my friend. Hard earned- the food was great, the turnout is great. I'm almost certain that it's all going to relief funds for what's coming. Taking care of families who get displaced because-”

”-That's neither here nor there for now. Let's just enjoy what we have. Where'd that bread basket go?”

Gin cleared her throat.

”A whole basket!?” Gin cleared her throat, reaching beside her chair and hoisting the decimated basket up.
”I'm not sure where it could've gone!”

Casey snickered, snagging one of the few remaining rolls and chucking it down his gullet.

"Yeah, God, Gin, where the fuck did they all go?!" Cass cackled as if she hadn't been helping herself to the remaining bread just as much as Gin had. The Abstraction boosting properties certainly didn't help with all the Green Lux flowing across her body… she already had too much of it!

As she began to bounce back around the table towards her seat, she grinned at Leon and Casey.
"I'm glad that was your childhood proposal plan that you still followed- cause if you'd been anything like my brothers, it would've been crazy! One always said he was gonna propose to his primary school crush by skydiving out of a plane and landing on one knee with a buncha explosions going off behind him!"

“Mm, yeah, thank God you were both sensible kids." Trisha agreed with a warm smile towards Casey. She couldn't stop herself from playing with the ring on her finger, feeling the delicate metal band and gemstones beneath her fingertips. It was real, it was there, they were really, properly engaged now.

She didn't move back towards her seat like Cass did- she didn't really want to move any distance away from Casey. So while he still stood, she did too, as close to him as she could without causing problems.

"Speaking of enjoying what we got… We gotta have a drink! To your engagement! Ain't that like, prime drinking time?! The kinda shit you'd pull out your fanciest bottle of champagne for- not that I have any bottles of champagne, fancy or not!" Cass grinned from the other side of the table, not actually sitting down yet but instead hopping from foot to foot.

“I… could have another drink, I suppose?" Trisha said, seeming to be more of a question as she glanced up at Casey. It wasn't so conductive to leaving as soon as Lynette was done but… it wasn't fair to just run away from some of the people who were actually excited for them.

Leon's gaze crossed their side of the table. It was a little sad with how empty it was in comparison to the buffet scraps still lingering on the other half. Thankfully, a large hand and big figure casually slid a bottle of wine into the frame. Big Max's titanic figure slotted in between Leon and Cass, causing both chairs to tilt off to either side in a very shallow incline.

Lynette had hit her stride at some point, and tuning in didn't seem terribly worth it. She was talking about having lost people. The people she ordered killed… Casey grimaced before his Grandfather caught his attention fully.

”Drink, and drink again! To your eternal happiness, Trisha and Casey!” Max grinned, one arm wrapping around Leon and the other around Cass.
”Pour! For them!” he chided the two.

Casey's face became a smile again, and he patted Trisha forward before rounding her to pull her seat out. Once she was sat, he rounded the table to hug Max while Sylvie quietly made her way around Trisha.

”Is the active fitting to your comfort, Trisha?” she asked simply, gazing down at her creation wrapped around Trisha's finger.

Trisha tilted her head, glancing from the ring up to Sylvie. The active fitting? Like, how it had flown out of the box? Or…

“Does it magically adjust size?" She asked in response, before smiling.
“It fits perfectly… It's very comfortable, and beautiful. Thank you."

Cass had beaten Leon to grabbing the provided wine bottle, leaning over the table to snatch up Trisha and Casey's glasses. A generous amount was poured into both, before she filled her and Leon's as well. If there was some expectation of a wine pouring technique, she didn't have it. But she grinned brightly, shaking the bottle towards the hugging Casey and Max.

"Am I pouring for you and Sylvie as well?!"

Trisha was momentarily distracted by Cass' shouting before smiling a bit apologetically at Sylvie. Her voice lowered, even though all people nearby would be able to hear her anyway. Her tone was light, half joking but with some genuine commiseration as one person with a lacking social battery to another.
“I’m sorry that there's going to be yet another loud family member- sort of- around thanks to me. It's difficult to find peace around here."

”In my house, there are all manner of children making noises. Here, it’s more quiet. Would you have been when my babies were small, their chaos may have been a surprise. Look at their Father, for God’s sake.”

Max had been rubbing Casey’s back in a warm embrace until his attention was pulled away by the questioning. He had the same look Casey often had: Playful without losing seriousness. Like he had a point to make at all times, but was never bothered by waiting his turn. Eagerness for something…

”Overly polite, you British folk. As if you don’t know; a Frenchman’s wine glass is always at hand.” Max cooed down at Cass, his body turning to snatch up the wine glasses from their seats.

He moved just enough to lean Sylvie’s out to her, his hand drifting in front of Casey and over Trisha until it hovered right in front of her face.
”I believe you were having a joke at my expense?” Max grinned.

Sylvie cleared her throat and reached out for the wine glass. With deft hands, she took the crystal and held its stem.

”Only that your Labradoric nature has irreparably damaged my psyche.” she raised the glass up to him gently.

Trisha’s lips pulled up into a bit more of a smile, looking past Max to Casey, though she spoke to Sylvie again rather than the two men.
“I’m not sure if the loudness is a Labrador like trait… Casey certainly isn’t that loud or chaotic? Unless it’s something that comes later, and I have it to look forward to?”

”I hate to entwine fate to you any more than it’s already done, dear. Are they poured!? Come, come-”

Casey pulled the drinks that had been poured by Cass, handing one off to Trisha. Leon and he had taken the second of Max and Sylvie’s interaction to focus back on Lynette in a simultaneous expectation of grievous outpouring. But, just logistical things. She was talking about the amount of people who had come into the flock during her time- Yadda.

Handing Leon a glass brought him out of the spell at least. Enough that he turned his head and kissed Cass before looking back at his grandparents, his glass raising instinctively.

”In respect to your Mother’s seat, we’ll keep relatively quiet.-” she looked up at Max expectantly.

”Oh, of course. I won’t yell.”

Then Max took a big gulp of air, inhaling as hard as he could like he was about to scream at the top of his lungs. It was so sharp and deep that even Lynette’s extrasensory awareness piqued, and she interrupted herself mid sentence to swing her head and stare daggers at her father-in-law before swinging right back.
Max had a great big grin on his face in turn, shaking his head.

”Too easy! Now-” he giggled, raising his glass gingerly.
”-Maybe our friend Cass can toast us? Not too loud, as the lady says?”

”Me?! That ain’t the right choice for quietness!” Cass laughed. Though she’d already shouted plenty when Trisha and Casey came back around… She could make a toast at a normal volume! Totally!

She raised her glass with a grin.
”To Trisha and Casey, to them being happily married till they’re as old as you two- sorry!- and to drinking together for many more years!”

Trisha smiled, eyes narrowing contentedly as her gaze remained on Casey. It was difficult to look anywhere else, after all.

”Cheers in your King’s English.” Max raised his glass and absolutely tilted it until there was nothing left.

Sylvie was much more well mannered, taking a healthy sip and laughing at her husband as red dribbled into his white beard. Casey and Leon had both followed the paternal example, knocking their drinks back after having tilted them into the clinking party.
As he placed his cup back down, Casey bent to kiss Trisha again, a hand reaching down across her chest to rub her arm while he had his back facing the table.

”Thank you both- Thank you. It really means a lot. I’m glad you were both here to see.”

Trisha managed to look past Casey for just a moment, softness still clinging to her gaze as she smiled at both Max and Sylvie. Her body tilted towards Casey as she turned to face them a bit better, still nursing the half full wine glass in her hands.
“Yes, thank you. It means a lot to me too… I know how much you mean to Casey. So I’m really… honoured to wear the ring you made and have your approval.”

Sylvie gave Trisha’s shoulder a simple pat. Nothing overbearing; just a simple confirmation.

”It’s our pleasure of course. And, Cass? It’s right to grow as old as us with love lingering in those oaken hearts. Wish it for everyone you meet, and yourself as well.” Max reached up to Leon, pinching his cheek, then sauntered over to the chairs to grab his and Sylvie’s coats.

”Leon? We’ll be leaving. I trust you to finish up.”

”Of course, sir. We’ll see you later on.” Leon replied, giving Max another hug.

Max let Leon cling for a second before his arms invited Cass into the embrace. It took a few seconds before Sylvie cleared her throat again and giggled slightly, so that only Trisha would hear it under her breath.
But before too long, the two were gone with a small cadre of cousins in tow. The box was clearing out before Lynette even finished what she was saying, leaving a whole open table along with a fresh bottle of wine for the four of them; five, as Gin hungrily stared at it. Casey could only laugh.

”Cass, can you please hook our friend up?”

Gin’s age was questionable, but not one that had ever actually come up. But, it seemed like Casey knew enough to know she was old enough to drink.

”Oh, right, sorry! I didn’t realise you’d brought a glass over!” Cass laughed, leaning over to pour a glass for Gin before pouring herself a third after the two she’d guzzled post toast. Honestly, she’d just gotten distracted and forgotten to pour for Gin… But that was a shit thing to say!

Trisha giggled softly, sipping her own wine. Thankfully she’d eaten enough before her siblings ruined her mood that this much wasn’t going to get her drunk. She was more giddy and lightheaded from the proposal than anything else.

”Alright, show me the ring! Properly! I ain’t seen it yet, c’mon!” Cass demanded after finishing off half her newly poured glass in one gulp. She then leaned half her body over the table, gesturing to Trisha with one hand.

Trisha was more than happy to hold out her left hand and show it off.

”Holy shit, it’s real nice! Suits you… real fucking delicate! Damn, I’d be scared of breaking it if I had something like that!” Cass grinned, leaning her face far closer than she had to when she could enhance her vision magically.
”Or losing it!”

“I won’t lose it. And I’m fairly certain a bullet would probably hit it and bounce right off.” Trisha glanced towards Casey for confirmation. Maybe it wasn’t that magical, but considering what Sylvie had done to a simple glass… It didn’t seem that farfetched.

Casey instinctively brought his fingers up to wrap around the ring before laughing aloud and retracting his hands with a grin. He didn’t feel like there was any other response necessary. Besides, Gin was already excited enough to go off as she skittered closer to both ladies to admire the craftsmanship.

”If Mrs. Sylvie made it, you could huck it in a wood chipper and break the machine. One time, I saw a necklace Auntie Lynnie had on get sucked into an industrial fan, and it shredded the fan apart on contact. I don’t even know how you make shit like that so small.” she admitted, clinking her glass up against Cass’.

”Holy shit! That’s fucking insane!” Cass grinned at Gin, downing the rest of her wine as was customary after clinking. Putting it down left her with two free hands, fingers wiggling in Trisha’s hand’s direction.

Trisha knew that finger wiggle and the glint in Cass’ eyes.
“No. You’re not testing the strength of my engagement ring. Go find your own unbreakable jewellery.”

”Awwww! Not even a little?!”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Cass pouted, turning to look up at Leon with big eyes. At the same time her phone was slipping out of her pocket.
”You don’t happen to have any jewellery your Nan made lying around, do you, Babe?”

Trisha didn’t bother holding back her laugh, glancing at her own boyfriend- no, fiance.
“She’s like a child… I’m surprised she didn’t just ask for a ring of her own just to try break it.”

Leon had plenty of jewelry, and pulled a rigid silver band off of his pinkie before sliding it off to Cass.

”Eat it for all I care. It’ll be fine out the other end.” he joked, tongue pressing out from between his lips with a smile.

”Don’t tempt me with a good time!” Cass cackled, grinning right back. She made as if she was going to swallow it whole, before just putting the band between her teeth as her jaw strengthened. It was a more effective test than crushing it, after all… She could snap through bones and stronger easily with her jaw and teeth imitating a Hyena’s. Especially the more magic she got.

”Ih eally ohn’ ayh!” She mumbled through trying her best to bite through it.

But she wouldn’t let this new toy distract her from another mission she had. Thankfully Trisha hadn’t quite pulled back her hand yet… Cass was able to lean over the table and snap a quick photo of the ring.
”Ahn oo!”

“Can you not speak with a ring in your mouth?” Trisha managed to say before laughing at the ridiculousness of the statement. But Cass was really determined to get through it! It was… Kind of cute how into something she got, even breaking the unbreakable. Her passion for magic already far exceeding Trisha’s after such a short time with it.

”Pah- Nope, I ain’t getting through it!” Cass spat it back out, holding the wet ring back out to Leon while texting with the other hand.
”I won’t swallow it and make you fish it outta my shit! That’d be- Oh! Diyah says, and I’m paraphrasing, the ring looks fucking awesome.”

“Oh, thanks- Wait, Diyah says what? Nadiyah?” It took Trisha a moment to process before she was staring at Cass with wide eyes.
“You told Nadiyah?”

”Well, yeah, I had to tell someone! Or I would’ve exploded! And it couldn’t be Leon cause I thought he didn’t know!”

Trisha didn’t even know when Cass had the time to text someone from when she’d told her to now. They’d been together all morning and afternoon… Then Cass had been with Leon the whole time. But if Nadiyah knew, that probably meant everyone knew.

”You told Rey already, right!? Like you told me this morning? Cause Diyah, like, totally told everyone else.”

“I… No… I didn’t…” Trisha was at a loss for words, glancing from Cass to Casey helplessly. She should’ve expected it, really. She had expected it! She’d just been so focused on it not being shared between Cass and Leon she hadn’t thought about preventing her from telling anyone else… but she also really hadn’t thought she’d find the time!

Casey and Leon passed mirrored expressions of concern as they actively watched the cognitive dissonance in Trisha’s head hit the rev limiter. There was obviously nothing either of them could do. Leon wondered what her expression could possibly be begging in relation to the situation. Did she want him to put the genie back in the bottle? That wouldn’t be happening. Cass would always be a more-than-capable whirlwind of her own chaos that just kept spinning and spinning.

”That… Means… Plenty of time to, uh… Y’know, to prepare your statement for everyone! You can really let them all know how you feel without having- Aw, fuck… Cass! She’s been on me since we met about wanting to be the person to tell people what’s going on with her! At least the option, y’know!?” Casey frowned, chiding her like a parent would a child.

"Uh- Well-" Cass' own brain was spinning and stalling too now. Sure, alright, it was pretty obvious when it was said out loud that she shouldn't have! But she was just so fucking excited, there was no way she could keep a lid on it without throwing her phone in the sea. And her computer. Plus, Diyah had been asking after Trisha! About their Thanksgiving!

"Maybe Diyah ain't told anyone? I… Really didn't mean to, honest! It just kinda came out- well was typed out- cause I was so fucking excited about it! Like, it took everything not to burst out about it verbally!"

Trisha covered her face with her hands, doing her best to take a deep breath. This was fine. It was Cass. She'd only told one of the few other people Trisha had to tell, who'd then almost definitely passed it onto the other two assuming they also knew. Maybe she hadn't, like Cass said. But she doubted it.

“I hadn't figured out how to tell them yet." Trisha said quietly, mainly meaning Reyna and Diyah. Sal wouldn't question her so much about it, especially if Cass accepted it. But the other two… Reyna especially. She could already hear all the questions. Which is why she'd wanted to prepare and tell her! But really, the moment Cass knew her preparation time was limited.

"I'm… really very sorry!" Cass shot up, torn between going around towards Trisha and ending up just bending over the table.
"If it helps any, she seemed real happy about it! I mean everyone's met and liked Casey!"

“That’s not… really the point…" Trisha frowned, continuing to breath deeply and leaning towards Casey. She didn't want to get actually upset at Cass, because she knew it wasn't malicious or anything.
“When did you… even get time?"

"Oh, well, it ain't like I've been involved in all conversations and shit! Had some time here and there, cause it ain't like Leon's fucking joined to me or anything!"

“So you need a babysitter to not blab?" Trisha asked bluntly. It was still difficult to tell externally how she was taking it. She didn't seem mad but she didn't seem particularly happy either. Her eyes closed for a moment, turning to Casey again.
“Maybe we should've prepared better. I was mostly worried her and Leon would tell each other…"

”I ain’t a rat, Trisha! Who would I tell? Sycamore? As if!” Leon frowned, not loving being superfluously lumped into a category he didn’t identify with.

”You’re a bit of a gossip.-” Casey shrugged, subtly sticking his tongue out at Leon to tease him in the middle of the otherwise frustrating situation.
”-But, it’s a bit too late now, Baby Bee. You wanna go somewhere quiet and call people? Or, just gonna wait until tomorrow to look at things?” he turned his head back to Trisha.

“Cass… You'd tell Cass if she hadn't been here… Which we thought was going to be the case." Trisha clarified to Leon, taking herself out of her own upset for a moment. It gave her another moment to think. Casey was right that it was too late. They knew, and she just had to deal with that.

She didn't want to deal with it right now. If they knew, what was waiting another day? Diyah and Reyna had probably already blown up her phone… but she could just ignore it.
“Wait. I'll deal with it tomorrow. We've already dealt with enough tonight. It's not going to change anything."

"I'm so sorry!" Cass repeated, still half bent over the table.
"I know I fucked up."

Trisha looked at her, before just nodding. She didn't want to lie and say it was fine, because she was upset about it.

“At least I still have a person or two to tell myself." She said, trying to lighten her own mood up and the conversations. Her and Casey had just gotten engaged. She wanted to enjoy herself for the short while they stayed there before they went home.

Casey looked thoughtful for a moment before clearing his throat and miming plugging his ears to the two of them. Leon frowned but nodded, then cupped his hands around Cass’ ears. In return, Casey nodded and tucked his face and hand up to Trisha’s ear.

”I’m not forcing you to do anything, but think about whether or not you want to sit here with this on your mind for another half-hour. Really consider it.” he whispered to her, courtesy in his heart.

Trisha frowned. Did she? Not really. But wasn't it just easier to sit with it? If she put it off she might be less upset when she actually had to deal with it. Or it'd just simmer and when she eventually did, she'd feel resentful towards Cass for telling everyone… She didn't want that.

At least, Casey made her stop and think for a moment before she pushed it all down.

“I… Don't want to. Let's go somewhere quiet, and call Reyna at least. She'll be the most… concerned…"

Casey hesitated for an incredibly brief moment as he imparted a reflection of his perception in the spot he was standing. Just in case. But, he turned to look at Leon and Cass with his head and smiled with a nod before taking Trisha by the hand and leading her down the stairs and around the other side of the box. It was a side with a serving bar, mostly meant for the box itself, but had been emptied out of supplies rapidly and abandoned an hour ago.

It had even been shuttered with a stretchy cloth, giving them some visual privacy along with the privacy of vacancy.

”You’re doing a great job, Baby, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. I know it’s a lot right now; you’re gonna get through this.” he did his best to affirm her as he swung the little side door open for her to step in.

It didn't really feel like she was doing a great job, or that she was even going through a lot right now. It was hard to not immediately reflect on how she just couldn't handle anything. Large events, close friends making careless mistakes… Dealing with a friend possibly questioning a relationship was something she'd done so many times before.

Not that Rey or Diyah would be questioning the relationship itself… They liked Casey. Just the speed… as if that should matter to any of them.

“I’m trying, thank you." Trisha managed to say quietly, rather than voicing her internal self doubts. She shuffled into the other side, finding a spot that seemed as good as any to stand. At least no one could see them.

She'd grabbed her bag on the way past, all of her things in there. One hand reached in for her phone, fingers brushing past Princess' plush exterior. It brought some comfort.
“Is it alright if I put it on speaker? I think I'll find it easier if it's… us."

”You can cam-call if you want, Trisha! Whatever helps you most, Babe: I just know you’ll feel better if you rip this bandage off right now. Diyah’s gonna be a good foil for you to speak through for now, rather than… Y’know, Cass doing what she did.” Casey gently guided.

Trisha half-smiled, a quiet, breathy laugh escaping.
“Cam-call... Nobody calls it that, Babe. Video call…” She leaned up to lightly kiss his cheek, getting some comfort from it herself- just knowing he was right there.

”Hey, you’re lucky I didn’t call it satcom.” he giggled back at her, rubbing his hands up her arms.

She unlocked her phone, expecting a bombardment of messages- but there were just a couple from Nadiyah and Reyna, which she swiped away before even reading them. Easier to call blind than read something that would make her more anxious. Alright… Nadiyah first. It would be fine.

It took a fair few rings until there was a click on the other side, and the call was picked up. There was an immediate burst of background noise, a mixture of loud voices in both English and Libyan Arabic.

"Didn’t expect you to call today- Let me move." Skipping all pleasantries, there was further shuffling as Nadiyah clearly walked somewhere less full of people.

“If it’s a bad time, we can call back. I know it’s Thanksgiving.”

"No need. Thanksgiving is just an excuse to have the extended family around. It’s not like we really celebrate it." Diyah replied neutrally as she found a quieter spot to sit.
"Wait, we?"

“Casey’s with me. Because, y’know…”

"Cass told me he proposed and you accepted? You should’ve told her last, Trisha." Her tone was flat, but Trisha could see the dry smile that would normally come along with it.
"Are you worried I’m going to rip into her again, Casey? I’m not that brutal."

Casey wasn’t surprised about the brevity. He liked that about her when they met previously, so it was refreshing.

”No, not at all. It’s been a rough day besides the good news, so we’re just sticking together at this point. On the driftwood trying not to freeze.” he smiled, and let his arms squeeze Trisha a little to affirm her further.

"Make sure there’s enough room for both of you, then." Diyah laughed lowly.

Trisha leaned into Casey, taking a deep breath as she tried to figure out what to say. Apologise for not telling her? Rant about Cass? Pretend it was all fine and she didn’t mind?
“I’m sorry you had to hear it from Cass. I planned to tell everyone else this week… But she’s at the Thanksgiving event. I didn’t expect her to have time to say.”

”Of course she found time. It’s Cass. She’s texted us mid sex before. But it’s fine, she’s the one to blame. You can still tell everyone else this week anyway.”

Trisha’s head tilted, looking a bit confused.
“You didn’t tell them?”

”Obviously. I’m not stupid. I know what Cass is like. Just be glad she told me and not Sal, because he would have told everyone else.”

“Oh. But Cass said you told everyone else.”

"She was just projecting her own guilty conscience onto me. There is a very real risk she’ll take that assumption and talk to them, though."

“She better not. Leon… Leon will stop her right?” Trisha asked Casey, sidetracked now she’d found out only one friend knew. She hadn’t actually gotten to the point- talking to Diyah about the engagement herself, seeing how she felt, dealing with that.

”No, Leon’s not invasive like that. I’ll buzz him and he’ll make sure Cass knows.” Casey replied, letting White Lux ripple across the surface of the wooden platform behind them up to where Lelou’s red hot emotional field. Recognizing Casey’s signature, his message was automatically passed along to Leon, who threw an immediate image response.

Casey laughed aloud.

”He’s got her phone. We’re all set.” he said, staring into the air dreamily as he took the chance to tune back into Lynette.

More hot air. She was laying the idea that this year was her last on thick. That retirement was a beautiful thing, and would lead to better and brighter tomorrows.

"That’s the good thing about Cass… Knows when she fucked up." Diyah laughed on the other end of the line.

Trisha nodded, glancing up at Casey with a thankful smile. But he was staring off at nothing… Maybe still sending mental messages to Leon? She took a deep breath, letting go the immediate flareup of irritation. Because he was still there with her. Paying enough attention, hopefully.

“So… What do you think, Diyah?”

"That’s a very open ended question. About your engagement? You’re not going to give me a convincing speech first?" Diyah intoned drily, continuing before Trisha could say anything.
"I think it’s fast. But my parents met and got married within three months, and they’re still together. Maybe when you know someone is the one, that’s it. Not that I believe in that anyway. When do you plan to actually get married?"

“A year and a half or so. Not next year, the year after.”

"I see."

There was a lingering silence, and Trisha furrowed her brow. What did Diyah see? Did she think they might as well have not gotten engaged if it was going to be such a long one? Did she not approve?

"I won’t lie and say I think it’s an amazing idea, but you’re both clearly happy about it. If it makes you more confident, then I understand. Casey?" Diyah’s tone shifted slightly, the slightly dry drawl growing more monotone.
"I’m not going to give you some speech. I’ll save that for Rey or Sal. I’d have to be blind to not see how much you love Trisha… And that was after only a few days. I hope that doesn’t change, but if it ever does, don’t hurt her. And don’t let her push you away otherwise."

“I wouldn’t.” Trisha grumbled under her breath, not particularly happy that Diyah was even vaguely mentioning the deeper issues she had. It wasn’t like they ever talked about it, but of course such a close friend would figure some things out.

”Well, in all honesty Diyah, the only thing I can do is make sure everyone else sees that this was the right decision. And that means filling Trisha’s life with all the love and care I can. I’m looking forward to assuaging everyone’s doubts and fears.” Casey replied, trying not to seem like he was overly tender about the concept of getting grilled over this.

It was natural that it’d happen, of course, but he thought about all the actual responsibilities he’d had in the Military. All the work he ended up doing that had nothing to do with hurting people or being in immediate danger. All the interpersonal work, all the team exercises and then the eventual leading of men and women. Domestic and abroad…

It almost hurt his feelings that people didn’t automatically trust him. That there wasn’t a shiny badge on his chest that gave immediate credence to his trust and authority. It was reductive to wonder what Diyah had done in her life that made her any better a judge of his character or their situation than anyone else.
But these were all gut reactions. Feelings one shouldn’t dwell on, since there was never any real light at the end of the tunnel when it came to them. Better to burn and bury the ashes.

”I will say, I see it as a declaration of commitment in any sense. I hope that when she looks down at the ring every day, she thinks about the future in the same way I do. That way, we move toward it together at the same pace.” He intoned, trying his best to roll past his brief moment of hurt.

"I hope so too. You certainly know how to say the right things!"

As Diyah laughed slightly, Trisha tensed up a bit. It felt like a dig. Because many of her past partners had also known how to say the right things, especially around other people, only to turn out to be awful. But Casey wasn’t like that.
“He-”

"And I know you mean it. Like I said, it was obvious when we met. Cass is singing your praises too. I’m glad that Trisha’s found someone willing to commit just like she is… And just as fast. Too fast, probably, but at least it’s equal this time."

Trisha let out a slight sigh, tension easing. Her left hand found his, her fingers threading through and squeezing gently.
“It is. He makes me feel more loved than anyone ever has. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t feel it.”

"Mm, I guess this is your first engagement… And last, I imagine. I’m happy for you both, much as it may not sound like it. That’s just my voice, I’m afraid."

”It’s totally fine! Your read is slightly off though. See, Cass is just being polite because she’s got Leon now. Doesn’t want to lose that.” he made sure to giggle audibly, doing his best to take what Diyah said at face value rather than looking too far into the pain train.

There was a pause for a moment, before Diyah burst into laughter.
"Cass, being polite? To not lose a boyfriend? That’s hilarious. I don’t think Cass knows anything but saying what she thinks. No way he isn’t used to it already."

Trisha laughed slightly too, managing to loosen up further. Nadiyah’s reaction had been nowhere near as bad as she expected. In fact, it had been quite positive. Sure, there was plenty to read into. But she’d expected to be told how awful an idea it was. This… wasn’t that.
“Cass can be polite, I just don’t think she’d do that for Leon. She’s very herself around him. That means she genuinely thinks you’re amazing, Casey. Which, obviously…”

"Alright, I didn’t pick up the call to have to listen to you flirting. Just make sure I get a direct wedding invite, rather than finding out through her?"

”Oh, you’ll be one of the first to know, I’ll make sure. Obviously, Trisha’ll make sure too. Not like she’d ever let anything like this happen again, I don’t think.” Casey patted her head.

Of course, it was going to be a long time coming, but he was dead serious about that at least. Because he needed everyone who didn’t approve to kiss his ass when things turned out better than alright. He wanted beautiful children and a big plot of land. He wanted Trisha and her Bees. He wanted her anxiety, and all the panic. He needed the excitement in his life just as much as he needed the stability.

”Just don’t forget you said that when you wind up on stage in the lineup with a fancy dress on.” he turned his eyes down to waggle his brows at Trisha with a smile.

Trisha smiled back at Casey, eyes creasing contentedly. She wanted to prove them wrong just like he did. She wanted to prove her own doubts wrong… Every step forward to believe he really wanted a future with her was a big one.

"Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll gladly remember and admit to remembering and wear whatever fancy dress I have to. Sal’s the one who might complain about being stuffed in a dress, though." Nadiyah said from the other end, tone taking a slightly upward, joking lilt at the end.

“Dresses aren’t mandatory.” Trisha intoned, nudging Casey lightly with her elbow.

"Shame. I was looking forward to it. But even if there’s no Sal in a dress involved, I look forward to the eventual wedding. And hearing about everything in between from our loud mouthed spy."

”Look as forward to it as you like! Tonight, the objectives kind of become survival, so I'll personally save the daydreaming for tomorrow. Honestly, I'm just supremely grateful you answered. Because Sal was the next person on the call list, I bet, and she would've been so sad if she spilled it to him and realized he hadn't known. You're an info bottlenecking lifesaver.” Casey intoned as quickly and clearly as he could, not wanting to give too many opportunities for extending the conversation beyond necessity.

"Don't give me too much credit." Diyah responded evenly. After a pause, she continued.
"Well, I'll leave you to surviving. I have to go survive my family myself. We'll speak more another time, Trisha?"

“Sure. Bye, Diyah."

”Enjoy surviving! It’s a thrill!”

Nadiyah hung up before Trisha had a chance to. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, she slipped her phone into her bag before turning around to properly hug into Casey. She pressed her face into his chest for a few moments, just breathing without saying anything. It could've been worse. She still had to deal with calling the others over the next few days… But at least she got to call them.

After a little while, she pulled her head back to look up at him.
“Good thing we called her… Thank you for making me properly think about it."

”As long as it was ultimately your decision. I’m happy it was a decent outcome, not some serious issue where everyone knew instantly. I guess we should be glad none of your friends are White Adepts.” Casey giggled, finally hugging Trisha tightly.

”Let’s just take a breath in here. It’s quiet, isn’t it?” he smiled down at her, head tilting to gently press against hers.

Technically one of her friends was a White Adept… but Reyna tended to combine it heavily with her Pink, and focused on people she could see or nearby rather than any long distance checking. Nothing like what Lynette did with spying…

“Mhm, I'm surprised… You wouldn't think there was a whole group of noisy people just round the corner." Trisha smiled back, slowly rubbing her nose against his. It was nice. Their own little bubble within all the chaos. Made her less inclined to flee as soon as they could. She still wanted to, but maybe she could tolerate talking to a few other people… It might be nice to speak with Mia, Hari and Ed before they left. Elise, maybe. Get any proper congratulations and discussion out of the way now so they could just exist together for a few days.

“Is there magic on this cloth or something? Fancy sound proofing?" She asked with a soft giggle.

Casey rubbed his hand against it, smiling.
”No such luck, Love. Just the silence of seclusion.”

Trisha laughed softly, smiling warmly up at him.
“That’s fine too. Any quiet is good.” Her eyes creased happily, and she leaned up to kiss him.

Recollections: Linebreaker

Ayesha Opeyemi (and Pan)

"I really hope this world has some good books too."

_______________________________________________ Ayesha ‘Aya’ Ife Opeyemi She/Her | 21 | Nigerian-American | 5’ | 105lbs _______________________________________________ Nervous. _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "You want to know about the book I’m reading right now? Well, it’s about this girl who lives in the slums and- oh, n-not that much detail? O-okay, I’m s-sorry..." ___________________________________ [+] Bookworm ⫻ Aya is a voracious reader, rarely found without a book by her side. She reads very quickly and is a bit of a sponge when it comes to soaking in information she reads… But generally, she enjoys fiction over informational reading. Orienteering ⫻ While Aya’s a shy nerd, she wasn’t someone who stayed cooped up inside… She just dislikes crowded places. Back in Shadow she was very into orienteering, often doing it with her older sister. This means she’s good at reading an old school map, at navigating using key features around herself, and has surprising stamina and speed when it comes to hiking. So if you’re lost with no phone signal, she’s pretty good at figuring out where to go. De-escalation ⫻ Aya’s pretty good at getting people to de-escalate and calm down through sheer panic and looking like she’s on a verge of breaking down. She hates fighting so much that she’ll do absolutely anything to stop it… To the point it’s practically a skill. Tabletop Games ⫻ Aya is a master of both games like Dungeons & Dragons, and a wide variety of board game. Her little group of nerds at highschool were always getting together to play D&D or board games together. She’s surprisingly competitive when it comes to the latter, whereas the former really lets her come out of her shell… But she can only do it with people she’s comfortable with in the first place.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I miss my dark hair… This draws too much attention. I d-don’t like that." Ayesha’s counterpart- Alannah- was much more… expressive than Ayesha is. Her tightly coiled, natural hair is dyed a bright orange-red. It’s well maintained and styled, varying from simple hairstyles like tying it back to putting in the effort to twist it into protective hairstyles that’ll last weeks. It technically goes almost to her shoulders, but its length greatly varies with how it's treated and styled. Sometimes its more like an afro, On top of normal lobe piercings, she has a nostril piercing and belly button piercing. Unlike her, Alannah would actually wear things that showed this off. Their build is similar. Short, and more stocky, with wider hips but a minimal chest. Thankfully no piercings… Alannah’s skin is a dark, red toned brown, relatively unmarred apart. Aya has only found a couple of scars: one on her left knee, another on her right abdomen. Both small, but there’s a larger one across her back she doesn’t know about yet. Her dark brown eyes are expressive, though they now normally hold nervousness. Alannah’s style varied- from crop tops and wide legged jeans, to tighter short dresses, to longer summer dresses. Thankfully, the latter is closer to what Aya is comfortable with, and she can match wider legged pants with baggy t-shirts! Aya was always a knit jumper girl… Unfortunately Alannah seems to have a distinct lack of those in her wardrobe.

_{Psychology
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Please don’t shout! Isn’t it ea-easier to just talk?"

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Ayesha wants a quiet life. She wants to complete her degree, get her job, and live in a little bubble with her close friends. So to do that, she needs to go back to her original body! And not have a ghost attached to her!

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Aya believes in tight knight community and helping others, while also being about to retain your own space. She believes strongly in peace, and that violence only perpetuates more violence.

SECRETS ⫻ Aya tends to hide her sexuality, though she’s mostly accepted it herself. Her family is quite conservative, and she tends to assume other people are unless she knows them better.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Aya is a lesbian, though she’s not particularly open about it. She’s kissed a few girls in highschool, but is generally quite inexperienced.

FEARS ⫻ Aya has social anxiety, struggling with panic attacks whenever she has to talk to new people. While she’s improved in the last couple of years to the point of being able to push through, she still finds it incredibly difficult and often stammers. Aya fears rejection, being judged, and being hated by other people. She’s generally a very nervous person, the kind who jumps at loud sounds and shouting. As she was bullied at school, she fears confrontation and becoming a complete outcast again. She also has a deep fear of spiders.

REPUTATION IN SHADOW ⫻ Aya was an often overlooked, quiet and nerdy girl. She had her small group of friends in highschool and then university, but very few would know her outside of that. When she wasn’t overlooked in highschool she was bullied… But thankfully she hasn’t dealt with that since she was sixteen. So generally, she was pretty forgettable.

FLAWS ⫻ Aya’s social anxiety is her greatest flaw. It makes it difficult for her to talk confidently to other people, and often sends her into panic attacks when she has to push out of her comfort zone. She’s got low self confidence. Her voice will get lost in the crowd, and she rarely pushes her own opinion even if she knows she’s right. She’ll go with the more confident people, being much more of a follower than she is a leader. She lacks a backbone. Because of her low self confidence, she can often be quite harsh on herself, and hates how much she struggles with things that should be easy. She can also be quite eccentric, with nerdy interests that she’ll gladly talk about for hours with the few people she’s comfortable with. But she was bullied heavily in highschool, which only adds to her struggle with talking to people she doesn’t know. It takes her a long time to get over her nerves.

_{Backstory
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"I love my home. I miss it."

Ayesha was born the second child to Nigerian parents who moved over to the USA before she was born, in Gary, Indiana. Her upbringing was relatively normal, at least in her eyes. Stricter, conservative parents, sure, but they loved their three children. While they weren’t the best off, they never went hungry.

Aya was always a quiet, shy child. Especially close to her older sister, she struggled to socialise outside of her family for most of her early years. She would always be hiding behind her parents legs or nervously following behind her much more outgoing sister. It wasn’t until she hit her teens that she really made any friends. Other people like her- the shy and quiet nerds. People who didn’t mind just all sitting in a room together and reading, and who got excited about the same nerdy hobbies.

But with her slightly increased confidence came something to tear it back down. Other teenagers were cruel, and Aya was an easy target for bullying. Verbal bullying and pranks turned into physical aggression that had her not wanting to go to school more often than not. But her parents wouldn’t allow something like that- not after they’d worked so hard to make sure their children got a good education.

It hit its breaking point when she was almost sixteen. After daily panic attacks, Aya had one so bad she lost the feeling in her limbs and fainted from hyperventilating so much her blood pressure dropped. Then, her parents relented. She was allowed to finish highschool at home, keeping in touch with the friends she’d made to prevent her complete social withdrawal.

Since, things went back to being more peaceful. She graduated highschool and got a place at Indiana University Northwest, allowing her to attend university without having to move out. There she’s started to take solid steps with her social anxiety- attending classes in person again was already a big move for her. She’s ended up majoring in Biochemistry, and is almost done with her degree. From there she can actually see a future. Sure, she still really struggles with anxiety, but she’s been slowly improving.

Until suddenly she woke up in Kindle, in a body that wasn’t her own with another voice in her head.

_{Abstraction
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"W-Why’s there a voice in my head?!"
"Because I’m fucking stuck in here!"

TYPE ⫻ Aberration (Adjoined)

ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Storm of Pandemonium. The ability to create and control a variety of chaos causing storms.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻

Pandemonium is an Apparition born from the Linebreaker event itself. A soul forced from her original body into the body of Alannah along with Ayesha’s soul, it was Ayesha who ‘won’ residency within the new body thanks to it being her counterpart. Without a true body, the other soul became an Apparition. Pandemonium remembers snippets of her old life, even if she doesn’t retain her name and identity. But more than that she remembers when she lost her body. The confusion, rage, and then resentment towards Ayesha who has it.

As a result, Pan doesn’t allow Aya free use of her abstraction. It’s used in two ways: Pan comes out of the body to freely use it as an Adjoined Apparition, or Pan is allowed some control of the body to use it.

Pan’s abstraction allows them to create and control various aspects of a storm in the vicinity around them. The abstraction always starts with looming grey clouds in a radius of up to fifty metres around them. However, the further spread the storm is, the less powerful it is. The tightest that can make it is a ten metre radius around them, where it’s at its most powerful. Generally, when Pan uses her abstraction she can only use one of the three aspects of it.

Winds of Resentment ⫻ Pan creates gusting winds with the ability to sweep people off their feet. These winds can be targeted, with strong gales hitting specific targets to throw them in the air, or be over a more general area where everything within- friend or foe- is buffeted by almost hurricane speed gales.

Thunder of Disorder ⫻ Pan controls the storm clouds to clash together in loud crashes. Any who hear this will be disoriented and confused, only worsening the longer they listen. It addles the brain, making it difficult to think through it and causing crippling disorientation. People who listen long enough will struggle to know where they are, what they’re doing, and eventually who they are. Along with the mental effect, the loudness of the thunderclaps will cause harsh ringing in the ears and make it difficult to talk over.

Bolts of Wrath ⫻ Pan summons lightning bolts from the clouds above to strike at enemies. However, the control over this is shaky and dependent on her emotional state. The angrier she is the more powerful the lightning bolts get, but the less controllable they are. They can become completely random if her or Aya’s mental state is bad.

The Storm of Pandemonium ⫻ The all in version of Pan’s abstraction, where she combines all three aspects at once. Heavy gales followed by disorienting thunder and burning lightning bolts. It’s powerful, but at the heavy cost of draining Pan’s energy to the point she can only maintain it for ten minutes. Then, afterwards, she will need to withdraw into Aya’s body- leaving both of them vulnerable and Abstractionless for a day or more. This is incredibly taxing on Aya too, leaving her drained and exhausted afterwards.

LIMITS ⫻

Right now, both Pan and Aya are new to the magical world. Pan is a baby Apparition with great potential power but very little control. Along with this, the tension between the two of them makes using the Abstraction harder. Ideally, Pan would grant it to Aya and use it through her… But that just isn’t possible right now.

If Aya lets Pan use her body, it causes great damage to her. But if Pan uses it herself from outside Aya, she is both vulnerable and her magic source easily drained. Until they learn to work together, they’ll never reach their true potential.

Pan can only use their abstraction for thirty minutes to an hour before needing at least a two hour rest. Whether it’s the shorter or higher amount of time depends on their mental state and Aya’s. It’s taxing on the body and mind, and Aya isn’t entirely immune to the effects of the storm. Pan can only use one aspect at a time unless really pushed, and using all three can be devastating to the two of them as well as their surroundings.

As mentioned above, it can be done in a radius of up to fifty metres where it’s at its weakest. The closest it can be done is in a ten metre radius around them.

Winds of Resentment ⫻ This can knock over objects as heavy as a car in targeted blasts, and less when untargeted. Pan can’t buffet the entire radius with anything more than light, almost aesthetic, winds while targeting with it.

Thunder of Disorder ⫻ People with Emotional Fields are resistant to the mental effects of the thunder. While it can cause ear pain and ringing, it can’t cause permanent damage.

Bolts of Wrath ⫻ The lightning bolts are the most uncontrollable aspect, even if the strongest in terms of raw power. They’re just as likely to harm as they are help, and there’s a real risk Pan will strike Aya with them.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ Because Pan and Aya are constantly arguing for control, any outside mental influence ( psychic/emotional attacks, etc) can spike the dissonance between them. This can cause a total shutdown of the Abstraction mid-use as they both mentally spiral. When Pan is outside of Aya’s body to use the Abstraction, her Apparition form is physically tangible and vulnerable. A single well-placed strike can either dissipate her entirely or force her to retreat. This will disable the Abstraction until Pan heals. Suppose an enemy force Pan or Ayesha into high emotional stress. In that case, her Bolts of Wrath become completely erratic — making her more likely to electrocute herself, Aya, or allies than her target. The longer the fight drags, the weaker she gets. An enemy who fights defensively, stalls her, or forces her to waste energy can exhaust her to the point of complete incapacitation within minutes. If Pan uses the full Storm of Pandemonium, both Pan and Aya are left completely drained and without powers for a day.

^{Other
_{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Why did this have to happen to me? Why not someone who wants an adventure?"

- Aya’s counterpart, Alannah, is a Pink Adept who also has social anxiety, but is much better at dealing with it.
- Aya’s never left Indiana before now

Pandemonium.

0 | Pandemonium of Raging Storms ‘Pan’ | She/Her "If I can’t get myself back, then why the fuck should she get to live in peace?"

Description: Pandemonium was originally a woman called Penelope Fisher from the world of Shadow. Penelope was a fiery woman who pushed through a great deal of hardships to really make herself a life worth living. Someone full of spirit and potential… Until the Linebreaker event, where her soul was torn out of its body. In the mess, her soul went into the body of Alannah along with Ayesha’s. The Apparition Pandemonium was born from the result, where Penelope was almost extinguished by the event and no longer having a body. Pan didn’t purposefully adjoin to Aya. She’s a baby Apparition with little knowledge about magic or how her own existence is possible. As far as she’s aware, the two need to remain attached. She’s retained her sassy, brash personality- but with much harsher anger and resentment to go with it. She’s resentful of Aya, even though Aya has been torn from her normal life just as much as Pan was. Pan has fragments of memories from when she was Penelope, but doesn’t actually remember her name or who she truly was. Unlike a lot of Adjoined Apparitions, Pan spends a lot of time outside of Aya’s body - although severely restricted in terms of how far she can travel. Really, she only goes in to rest.

Pan’s Theme

Recollections: Linebreaker

Wow how did I make this character sheet so quickly...

Ayesha Opeyemi (and Pan)

"I really hope this world has some good books too."

_______________________________________________ Ayesha ‘Aya’ Ife Opeyemi She/Her | 21 | Nigerian-American | 5’ | 105lbs _______________________________________________ Nervous. _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "You want to know about the book I’m reading right now? Well, it’s about this girl who lives in the slums and- oh, n-not that much detail? O-okay, I’m s-sorry..." ___________________________________ [+] Bookworm ⫻ Aya is a voracious reader, rarely found without a book by her side. She reads very quickly and is a bit of a sponge when it comes to soaking in information she reads… But generally, she enjoys fiction over informational reading. Orienteering ⫻ While Aya’s a shy nerd, she wasn’t someone who stayed cooped up inside… She just dislikes crowded places. Back in Shadow she was very into orienteering, often doing it with her older sister. This means she’s good at reading an old school map, at navigating using key features around herself, and has surprising stamina and speed when it comes to hiking. So if you’re lost with no phone signal, she’s pretty good at figuring out where to go. De-escalation ⫻ Aya’s pretty good at getting people to de-escalate and calm down through sheer panic and looking like she’s on a verge of breaking down. She hates fighting so much that she’ll do absolutely anything to stop it… To the point it’s practically a skill. Tabletop Games ⫻ Aya is a master of both games like Dungeons & Dragons, and a wide variety of board game. Her little group of nerds at highschool were always getting together to play D&D or board games together. She’s surprisingly competitive when it comes to the latter, whereas the former really lets her come out of her shell… But she can only do it with people she’s comfortable with in the first place.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I miss my dark hair… This draws too much attention. I d-don’t like that." Ayesha’s counterpart- Alannah- was much more… expressive than Ayesha is. Her tightly coiled, natural hair is dyed a bright orange-red. It’s well maintained and styled, varying from simple hairstyles like tying it back to putting in the effort to twist it into protective hairstyles that’ll last weeks. It technically goes almost to her shoulders, but its length greatly varies with how it's treated and styled. Sometimes its more like an afro, On top of normal lobe piercings, she has a nostril piercing and belly button piercing. Unlike her, Alannah would actually wear things that showed this off. Their build is similar. Short, and more stocky, with wider hips but a minimal chest. Thankfully no piercings… Alannah’s skin is a dark, red toned brown, relatively unmarred apart. Aya has only found a couple of scars: one on her left knee, another on her right abdomen. Both small, but there’s a larger one across her back she doesn’t know about yet. Her dark brown eyes are expressive, though they now normally hold nervousness. Alannah’s style varied- from crop tops and wide legged jeans, to tighter short dresses, to longer summer dresses. Thankfully, the latter is closer to what Aya is comfortable with, and she can match wider legged pants with baggy t-shirts! Aya was always a knit jumper girl… Unfortunately Alannah seems to have a distinct lack of those in her wardrobe.

_{Psychology
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Please don’t shout! Isn’t it ea-easier to just talk?"

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Ayesha wants a quiet life. She wants to complete her degree, get her job, and live in a little bubble with her close friends. So to do that, she needs to go back to her original body! And not have a ghost attached to her!

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Aya believes in tight knight community and helping others, while also being about to retain your own space. She believes strongly in peace, and that violence only perpetuates more violence.

SECRETS ⫻ Aya tends to hide her sexuality, though she’s mostly accepted it herself. Her family is quite conservative, and she tends to assume other people are unless she knows them better.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Aya is a lesbian, though she’s not particularly open about it. She’s kissed a few girls in highschool, but is generally quite inexperienced.

FEARS ⫻ Aya has social anxiety, struggling with panic attacks whenever she has to talk to new people. While she’s improved in the last couple of years to the point of being able to push through, she still finds it incredibly difficult and often stammers. Aya fears rejection, being judged, and being hated by other people. She’s generally a very nervous person, the kind who jumps at loud sounds and shouting. As she was bullied at school, she fears confrontation and becoming a complete outcast again. She also has a deep fear of spiders.

REPUTATION IN SHADOW ⫻ Aya was an often overlooked, quiet and nerdy girl. She had her small group of friends in highschool and then university, but very few would know her outside of that. When she wasn’t overlooked in highschool she was bullied… But thankfully she hasn’t dealt with that since she was sixteen. So generally, she was pretty forgettable.

FLAWS ⫻ Aya’s social anxiety is her greatest flaw. It makes it difficult for her to talk confidently to other people, and often sends her into panic attacks when she has to push out of her comfort zone. She’s got low self confidence. Her voice will get lost in the crowd, and she rarely pushes her own opinion even if she knows she’s right. She’ll go with the more confident people, being much more of a follower than she is a leader. She lacks a backbone. Because of her low self confidence, she can often be quite harsh on herself, and hates how much she struggles with things that should be easy. She can also be quite eccentric, with nerdy interests that she’ll gladly talk about for hours with the few people she’s comfortable with. But she was bullied heavily in highschool, which only adds to her struggle with talking to people she doesn’t know. It takes her a long time to get over her nerves.

_{Backstory
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"I love my home. I miss it."

Ayesha was born the second child to Nigerian parents who moved over to the USA before she was born, in Gary, Indiana. Her upbringing was relatively normal, at least in her eyes. Stricter, conservative parents, sure, but they loved their three children. While they weren’t the best off, they never went hungry.

Aya was always a quiet, shy child. Especially close to her older sister, she struggled to socialise outside of her family for most of her early years. She would always be hiding behind her parents legs or nervously following behind her much more outgoing sister. It wasn’t until she hit her teens that she really made any friends. Other people like her- the shy and quiet nerds. People who didn’t mind just all sitting in a room together and reading, and who got excited about the same nerdy hobbies.

But with her slightly increased confidence came something to tear it back down. Other teenagers were cruel, and Aya was an easy target for bullying. Verbal bullying and pranks turned into physical aggression that had her not wanting to go to school more often than not. But her parents wouldn’t allow something like that- not after they’d worked so hard to make sure their children got a good education.

It hit its breaking point when she was almost sixteen. After daily panic attacks, Aya had one so bad she lost the feeling in her limbs and fainted from hyperventilating so much her blood pressure dropped. Then, her parents relented. She was allowed to finish highschool at home, keeping in touch with the friends she’d made to prevent her complete social withdrawal.

Since, things went back to being more peaceful. She graduated highschool and got a place at Indiana University Northwest, allowing her to attend university without having to move out. There she’s started to take solid steps with her social anxiety- attending classes in person again was already a big move for her. She’s ended up majoring in Biochemistry, and is almost done with her degree. From there she can actually see a future. Sure, she still really struggles with anxiety, but she’s been slowly improving.

Until suddenly she woke up in Kindle, in a body that wasn’t her own with another voice in her head.

_{Abstraction
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"W-Why’s there a voice in my head?!"
"Because I’m fucking stuck in here!"

TYPE ⫻ Aberration (Adjoined)

ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Storm of Pandemonium. The ability to create and control a variety of chaos causing storms.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻

Pandemonium is an Apparition born from the Linebreaker event itself. A soul forced from her original body into the body of Alannah along with Ayesha’s soul, it was Ayesha who ‘won’ residency within the new body thanks to it being her counterpart. Without a true body, the other soul became an Apparition. Pandemonium remembers snippets of her old life, even if she doesn’t retain her name and identity. But more than that she remembers when she lost her body. The confusion, rage, and then resentment towards Ayesha who has it.

As a result, Pan doesn’t allow Aya free use of her abstraction. It’s used in two ways: Pan comes out of the body to freely use it as an Adjoined Apparition, or Pan is allowed some control of the body to use it.

Pan’s abstraction allows them to create and control various aspects of a storm in the vicinity around them. The abstraction always starts with looming grey clouds in a radius of up to fifty metres around them. However, the further spread the storm is, the less powerful it is. The tightest that can make it is a ten metre radius around them, where it’s at its most powerful. Generally, when Pan uses her abstraction she can only use one of the three aspects of it.

Winds of Resentment ⫻ Pan creates gusting winds with the ability to sweep people off their feet. These winds can be targeted, with strong gales hitting specific targets to throw them in the air, or be over a more general area where everything within- friend or foe- is buffeted by almost hurricane speed gales.

Thunder of Disorder ⫻ Pan controls the storm clouds to clash together in loud crashes. Any who hear this will be disoriented and confused, only worsening the longer they listen. It addles the brain, making it difficult to think through it and causing crippling disorientation. People who listen long enough will struggle to know where they are, what they’re doing, and eventually who they are. Along with the mental effect, the loudness of the thunderclaps will cause harsh ringing in the ears and make it difficult to talk over.

Bolts of Wrath ⫻ Pan summons lightning bolts from the clouds above to strike at enemies. However, the control over this is shaky and dependent on her emotional state. The angrier she is the more powerful the lightning bolts get, but the less controllable they are. They can become completely random if her or Aya’s mental state is bad.

The Storm of Pandemonium ⫻ The all in version of Pan’s abstraction, where she combines all three aspects at once. Heavy gales followed by disorienting thunder and burning lightning bolts. It’s powerful, but at the heavy cost of draining Pan’s energy to the point she can only maintain it for ten minutes. Then, afterwards, she will need to withdraw into Aya’s body- leaving both of them vulnerable and Abstractionless for a day or more. This is incredibly taxing on Aya too, leaving her drained and exhausted afterwards.

LIMITS ⫻

Right now, both Pan and Aya are new to the magical world. Pan is a baby Apparition with great potential power but very little control. Along with this, the tension between the two of them makes using the Abstraction harder. Ideally, Pan would grant it to Aya and use it through her… But that just isn’t possible right now.

If Aya lets Pan use her body, it causes great damage to her. But if Pan uses it herself from outside Aya, she is both vulnerable and her magic source easily drained. Until they learn to work together, they’ll never reach their true potential.

Pan can only use their abstraction for thirty minutes to an hour before needing at least a two hour rest. Whether it’s the shorter or higher amount of time depends on their mental state and Aya’s. It’s taxing on the body and mind, and Aya isn’t entirely immune to the effects of the storm. Pan can only use one aspect at a time unless really pushed, and using all three can be devastating to the two of them as well as their surroundings.

As mentioned above, it can be done in a radius of up to fifty metres where it’s at its weakest. The closest it can be done is in a ten metre radius around them.

Winds of Resentment ⫻ This can knock over objects as heavy as a car in targeted blasts, and less when untargeted. Pan can’t buffet the entire radius with anything more than light, almost aesthetic, winds while targeting with it.

Thunder of Disorder ⫻ People with Emotional Fields are resistant to the mental effects of the thunder. While it can cause ear pain and ringing, it can’t cause permanent damage.

Bolts of Wrath ⫻ The lightning bolts are the most uncontrollable aspect, even if the strongest in terms of raw power. They’re just as likely to harm as they are help, and there’s a real risk Pan will strike Aya with them.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)

^{Other
_{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}
"Why did this have to happen to me? Why not someone who wants an adventure?"

- Aya’s counterpart, Alannah, is a Pink Adept who also has social anxiety, but is much better at dealing with it.
- Aya’s never left Indiana before now

Pandemonium.

0 | Pandemonium of Raging Storms ‘Pan’ | She/Her "If I can’t get myself back, then why the fuck should she get to live in peace?"

Description: Pandemonium was originally a woman called Penelope Fisher from the world of Shadow. Penelope was a fiery woman who pushed through a great deal of hardships to really make herself a life worth living. Someone full of spirit and potential… Until the Linebreaker event, where her soul was torn out of its body. In the mess, her soul went into the body of Alannah along with Ayesha’s. The Apparition Pandemonium was born from the result, where Penelope was almost extinguished by the event and no longer having a body. Pan didn’t purposefully adjoin to Aya. She’s a baby Apparition with little knowledge about magic or how her own existence is possible. As far as she’s aware, the two need to remain attached. She’s retained her sassy, brash personality- but with much harsher anger and resentment to go with it. She’s resentful of Aya, even though Aya has been torn from her normal life just as much as Pan was. Pan has fragments of memories from when she was Penelope, but doesn’t actually remember her name or who she truly was. Unlike a lot of Adjoined Apparitions, Pan spends a lot of time outside of Aya’s body - although severely restricted in terms of how far she can travel. Really, she only goes in to rest.

Pan’s Theme

How Dogs Are [FernStone & AtomicEmperor]

There wasn’t time to say anything else, since the walk across the roof wasn’t exactly a long one. They didn’t need to knock either, with both of the inhabitants actually expecting them.

It was Trisha that opened the door to let them in this time, with Casey still in the kitchen cutting up some more fruit so there’d be some for their human guests along with the bees. She glanced down at the boxes, then up at Cass and Leon with a hint of confusion. From this angle she couldn’t see any of the labels, just two… unmarked… boxes.

“No way, I did not agree to that kind of-”

”Oh my God, Trisha, we ain’t carrying sex toys!” Cass interrupted before she could finish with a loud laugh. She knew her friend more than well enough to guess how she’d misunderstood.
”It’s gaming shit! Y’know, my console emulators! I figured we could have a gaming party. Assuming you don’t mind me setting the shit up on your TV? Hell, if you enjoy it enough, I’ll loan ‘em to you for a while.”

Trisha let out a soft sigh of relief, naturally moving back towards Casey now she’d done her duty of letting the two of them in. While the Den was more of a safe space than the rest of the house, she couldn’t think of any reasonable reason to not let others in. Especially if it involved doing something fun, rather than just making conversation all night.

“I suppose that’d be alright… What do you think, Case? We going to let people in there?”

”I promise, I won’t blow anything up!” Cass shouted a bit too enthusiastically.

”No worries with me. The puzzle on the big flat cushion is enchanted to stay together, so you can just toss it and the box of pieces on the floor in the back corner.” Casey replied without even looking up.

”Leon said you guys were gonna mess with the tv maybe? So, just give me a second and I’ll come unlock the hinge to pull it away from the wall.”

Leon beamed at Cass.

”I told him we were gaming. Y’know, Casey, that doesn’t mean we’re gonna touch the tv.” he giggled, thinking he caught Casey in a little spying moment that wouldn’t be terribly embarrassing to expose. But, in typical fashion, Casey had an answer cocked and ready.

”Good thing I have someone who can tell me what ’We’re gaming’ could entail. Sorry, I haven’t been hanging around the eighteen to twenty-four dorms with my peers.” he stuck his tongue out as he expertly peeled an apple with a pearing knife in a single strip.

“What kind of gaming wouldn’t mess with the TV anyway? Unless you’d meant board gaming?” Trisha shot Leon another confused look, unsure why he was pointing something like that out.

Cass laughed slightly, forcefully moving past that before Trisha started asking more questions. Right now wasn’t the time, after all.
”No rush, Casey! It ain’t gonna take me long to set it up, just gotta plug in a bunch’ve wires then get it running. It works off a HDMI port so it ain’t like I need to actually mess with the TV. I could, though. Make it so it plays videos of me doing cool stunts in the middle of whatever other shit you’re watching!”

She laughed louder, grinning at them all as she shuffled her way towards the open door to their Den. Just to set the box down inside.

“Which one did you bring?” Trisha asked curiously, trying to read the scrawled words on the box Leon was carrying without actually coming any closer.

”Xbox! Well, this one’s got the nintendo shit in it too- But I’ma hook up the xbox one! It’s the best, after all… Only four can play at a time, but I figured it’d be fun anyway. Maybe we can do something in teams?!”

”Not sure Hari or Mia will have much interest. Really, not even sure what to play.” Leon shrugged.

”Oh, Lee; grab that rolling island there-”
Next to the stationary island in the kitchen, there was an extension with wheels that stood at the same height as the countertop. Clearly, it was wide and strong enough to handle whatever they wanted to put on it in order to keep it close to the tv.

”And… Don’t fuck with me like that? Me hearing little things makes our lives easier. I can cut things-”

”-You’re obsessive. I get it. Meticulous is a great word.” Leon interrupted Casey with a smile and a hug as they spoke to one another very quietly.

But Leon didn’t want to have things go crazy just because he’d made a snap decision. It wasn’t very fair to Casey, especially when he was being welcomed in.

”I’m sorry. I just… Hope you ain’t gonna be like Ma is all.”

And then he was off, rolling the cart into the living room without giving Casey another shot.

”Will this work, my Darling?” he asked, sweeping his hand across the wide surface of the rolling counter.

”Oh yeah, it’s perfect! I’m used to putting shit on the floor!” Cass grinned. She pulled the boxes up onto the couch, before beginning to pull out everything she needed. She might as well set up her end so all she needed to do was plug it in when Casey came through to pull it away from the wall.

The laptop she pulled out was clearly old, and built like an absolute brick. The shell was about the only original part left. She placed it on the counter, plugging in a pretty bulky external hard drive first. She shoved open the laptop lid to turn it on, lines of blue text immediately filling the screen. As it was booting there were a bunch more things to plug in- cables to attach to the TV, an extension so she could get all four controllers plugged in, and a couple of other strange looking pieces of electronics… Some even had exposed circuitry.

“Are sure it’s not going to blow up?” Trisha lightly joked as she squeezed her way into the room. She clambered onto the large couch to grab the puzzle and its box at the back and chuck it into the floor just like Casey had suggested. She shuffled over to grab her own laptop and move it out of the way, along with a couple of notebooks. They were all neatly placed beside the puzzle.

”Course not! We’d all be long dead if it was… I made this shit in our flat, y’know?”

“Yeah, I remember because it smelt like burnt metal for days.” Trisha intoned, shaking her head. She glanced over at Leon.
“That’s a future you’ve got to look forward to. Good luck, with the super smell.”

”She just stinks like that, I’m already used to it.” Leon playfully poked at Cass’ side before sitting down in a rather non-welcomed position on the couch.

Leon wasn’t going to bother getting comfortable until everyone else was here. Even then, he may opt for the floor. The room was set up interestingly, but he figured they really weren’t interested in entertaining out of here. Otherwise, they probably would’ve invested in a couch that was more like the booth-style in his apartment, rather than this massive orgy couch.

”Actually… Cass? Didn’t Rusty have a couch like this at his place in San Fran?” he openly laughed.

Casey heard the name Rusty from the kitchen and shouted playfully into the room.

”Trishaaaaaaaa! Leon’s making fun of the Green Gobbler… He’s calling it a porn couch!” Casey laughed as well, starting to shuffle in with some fruit to put down on the open space.

“What?! It’s not a porn couch!” Trisha immediately defended the Big Green, folding her arms with a playful huff.

”I mean…” Cass grinned, moving out of the way to let Casey in at the TV.
”There was one exactly like it at Rusty’s. Different colour, but that could’ve been all the fluids! It was real comfy for-”

“No, no way, I’m drawing the line at talking about any kinda couch sex!” Trisha interrupted, reaching out to pat their beautiful green one that she refused to allow to be tainted by this kind of talk. With a completely straight face, she continued.
“He can hear you. Casey and I make sure to keep it PG-13 in here to protect him.”

”Really!? First thing me and Cass did when she moved in was-”

”-Come oooooooooooooon! She was serious!” Casey interrupted Leon’s very intentional teasing with a laugh. He quickly made way for Trisha, holding her as though they were two concerned parents.

”There’s no kids… We only have Greenie! Your nephew, Leon!” Casey laughed again, trying to keep a straight face.

But then he figured he’d do what he was supposed to, and went back to the tv to unpin the locks and let the massive thing swing out from the wall. The plugs were far in the back, so Cass would have to slide under and behind the thing to get everything plugged in. The power strip was back there as well, tucked into a nook of some sort on the wall.

”Can I still cuss at least?” Leon grinned in return, unable to stop himself from boundary testing.

”Well, what kind of thirteen year old doesn’t cuss?” Casey asked in return, shuffling the thing out as much as possible to give Cass plenty of room.

”The same thirteen year old who isn’t interested in sex jokes, probably.” Leon wagged both his eyebrows in smugness.

“Neither of you were going to make a sex joke, you were going to straight up describe your sex life!” Trisha shot back, comfortingly rubbing the arm of the couch. She was much better at keeping up the straight face than Casey was for the moment.

”Technically you only said couch sex talks were off limits.” Cass snickered as she wriggled herself in behind the television. It wasn’t hard at all since she could just flatten her body and stretch it up to get where she needed to plug everything in. A bit too long arm came out from behind it to point vaguely in Trisha’s direction.

”You ain’t gonna go back on your word, are you, Trish? That’s where you draw the line, ain’t it?” She didn’t give Trisha an opportunity to respond, gently plugging in the HDMI as she continued.
”Don’t pretend you didn’t cuss and make sex jokes and talk about it as a teen! Double standards for your child, much!”

“Not- Not in front of my parents and uncle!” Trisha broke a bit now, covering her face as it turned a bit red and giggles escaped.

”Pretty sure I’m the only one here who was a virgin by the time high school finished, thanks. Dooooooon’t worry, Greenie. We’ll keep you pure. Leave it up to the springs and boards upstairs to take the trauma.”

There was a loud wrapping on the front door at that moment. Casey’d been wrapped up in enough conversation and silliness to have missed them coming up.
”Oh, speaking of trauma…”

He flicked his hand, and the door swung open without any physical influence. He hung his body out of the doorway to look at the girls coming in. They had…

”Is that a fuckin’ cake? Where’d you get that?”

”I made the caaaaaaaaaake! Ed made the frosting, and Mia spent a few hours piping the fuck out of it!”

”I really love piping cake.”

”Ohhhhhh come on! Not you three as well, what the fuck is happening in that apartment downstairs!?” Casey started cracking up.

”Only the best things happen down there.” Cass grinned, waggling her eyebrows- though they couldn’t be seen with her face behind the TV.

“Stay out there if you’re going to make jokes like that!” Trisha shouted from inside the Den. But she carefully moved around Leon and Cass to join Casey in the doorway, giving her best welcoming smile to the three. Even if she wasn’t in the best form after finding out about Cass’ illness, she really was trying to be better about things- and that included making more of an effort with those three. Mia, mainly…

”Aw, c’mon Trisha, what’s some joking between family?!” Cass cackled, wriggling back out from behind the TV now that everything was plugged in. She typed a quick command into the console on her laptop, before shimmying her way past Trisha and Casey.
”I wanna see these cakes Mia’s been piping! You kept that real secret when I was down there, huh? Piping cakes without me?!”

The trio looked about as comfy as they usually looked during these sorts of interactions. Since the building was one big house to them, there was no reason to put on anything flashier than a sweater and some fuzzy-toed slippers. There was hardly cold to brave anyway, since Casey had enchanted the awning over the path with radiating heat. Ed was already pulling hers off, shaking it out and letting Serenity float out of it like she was made of paper.

”It’s been made for a few days! Just, y’know, waiting for you to feel better so we could devour it!”

A couple strides brough Hari to the island to place the cake down on the counter while Ed and Mia made way for the back den.

”Are we all allowed in there!? Ed asked, excitement on her face. Mia was already feeling strange, being that her recent interaction with Cass may’ve smoothed things over there… But, Trisha would always be a far more complex person to deal with.

They weren’t technically here for her. But, how could Mia not put some kind of focus on Trisha? Some kind of attitude adjustment, or a mask to avoid being the person that pissed her off today. It took mental power just to be around her… Maybe that was the problem, ultimately, and Mia was just susceptible to it. Not like Casey, who could spare all of it. He’d probably be able to spare the Leash too… But she couldn’t make it about that again. Besides, Leon wasn’t looking to get hurt today.

”You know that’s up to Trisha! Honestly, I was just assuming that Cass and Leon were looking for a new, unhumped piece of furniture to soil.”

”Oh, count me in! I’m brewin’ a piss right now!” Ed grinned widely.

”My GOD! I can’t leave the house with you two!” Mia giggled, moving to the edge of the hall and leaning against the wall to wait for permission like a good guest.

“Caaasseyyy," Trisha frowned playfully at his comment, lightly batting his arm. It wasn't like she was actually bothered by that kind of thing… not so much, at least, after everything the two of them had talked about, and reaching that stage together. So long as it didn't move into the realm of hearing about whatever the fuck Cass and Leon were actually doing, it was fine.

"Hey! I ain't gonna do that in your home! God, we ain't animals!" Cass grasped her heart in mock hurt before cackling and slipping past to bound over the cake. Just to look and salivate before going back towards the Den. On the way past she winked at Ed, and then Casey.
"Anywhere else, though… Well that ain't off limits. The whole world's our oyster!"

Trisha rolled her eyes playfully, already slipping back into the Den. But after a brief moment she realised that Mia was actually… waiting for permission. Completely. It was kind of nice, after so many of his family just walked over her boundaries… her family too.

“You can all come in… So long as Casey gets his normal sitting spot because of his back." And, selfishly, that really was their special area now. It was the best place to cuddle too. She could handle having them in her space temporarily, at least. Could push herself to.
“Cass is setting up one of her crazy gaming laptops in here."

”Casey gets a special spot!? I guess it’s your couch!” Hari joked, poking fun as she started in toward the hall.

Ed brushed past, planting a kiss right on Casey’s cheek and ruffling his hair at the same time.

”I bet there’s a big assprint where Casey sits.” she giggled, walking in to see what Cass was up to.

Leon had already taken the spot open to the wall, and was sitting cross-legged as tucked away as he could be. It was a big couch, but seven people and a ghost would be a lot. Especially with his awareness of what Casey’s spot actually was. He’d been up here a few times and seen Casey hanging out. If that’s where he and Trisha would be, it basically cut the couch in half. Maybe the trio would be happy to rest their bony asses on one another, but Leon needed the space!

”It doesn’t, I checked! It does smell like farts, however.” Leon giggled as Ed automatically moved to playfully smack his face.

It was easy to tell she was extra stoned based on how affectionate she was, and her playful smacks became her gripping his face to tug his head slightly and plant a kiss. The only person not getting kissed today was Trisha, simply because the boundaries were already set. It was hard enough getting your arms around her, never mind planting kisses and rubbing noses.

Hari wasn’t far behind, and stopped in front of Trisha to offer a hug, that way she could get both of them at once. Mia, however, wasn’t moving. She was content with waiting, and maybe hoping that Trisha would just ignore her.

Trisha hesitated for a moment, before accepting the hug from Hari. Just briefly before she withdrew, but she let her nonetheless. She was really trying today. In her mind, today and Thanksgiving were the two days of the week she'd push herself… And the rest? It would just be her, or her and Casey.

She wasn't really sure what to do about Mia. Did she have to invite her in again? Should she just leave her? Trisha was trapped in the doorway as she tried to figure out what it was she should do. Not setting either of them off, ideally…

"What're we wanting?! Modern shit, old shit? Ain't like I can't switch it, just gotta choose what to boot it into just now." Cass asked, the big screen still just black and covered in blue command lines. Loads of technical jargon and shit most people there wouldn't understand. There was an actually GUI for the ‘console’, of course, she just had to actually boot that.

Mia stood alone in the hall, looking at Trisha and Casey with a neutral expression. She held herself in her arms, both hands tucked into the opposite slots with the arms crossing her chest. At least Casey hadn’t left Trisha yet, still standing and staring back at his little sister.

”What’s the matter, Mimi?” he broke the ice, trying his best to keep quiet enough that the others didn’t have a reason to listen in.

Mia cleared her throat uncomfortably.

”It’s your house. I’m just being polite.” She replied, trying not to sound as tense as she was.

”It’s not about the leather?” he asked, using leather as a thinly veiled code for the leash.

”No, I’m fighting my impulse.” she admitted squarely, letting her arms visibly tighten against her chest a little more.

Casey understood there, reactionarily hugging Trisha’s body a little tighter.

”Ain’t our party, is it?” Casey asked calmly, one hand rubbing Trisha’s arm.
”So, use your big girl words, please. Instead of acting like a little one.”

She pouted slightly, closing her eyes.

”I don’t want it to be a big deal, Casey.” she replied simply, shrugging.

”You already did. And I can feel the hug draining out of her with every second we keep this up.” he replied.

Mia looked squarely at Trisha, a frown forming on her face.

”You really don’t want it. I figured if I just sat and let you guys do your thing, it’d be fine. You don’t, right? A hug, I mean? I’m… Not trying to ruin anything, seriously.” she forced the concession from her throat like vomit.

Trisha furrowed her brow, glancing up at Casey before looking back at Mia. She tried her best to keep her own expression neutral, instead of frowning.

She just didn’t understand why it always ended up being such a big deal. Was it because they saw her being so affectionate, that they thought she should at least be alright with hugging other people? Most of her life had been lacking in platonic affection- until she met Cass- and there’d been none from family. It was always a precursor to something romantic or sexual… So of course she struggled with it. It just wasn’t comfortable for her. It didn’t mean she didn’t like them…

“I’m more likely to say yes if you ask. It’s unexpected hugs that I really don’t like.” She said evenly, leaning against Casey and taking a deep breath. Then she gently moved out of his arms to take a step towards Mia. She could do one hug. And today was about Cass… She’d be happier if things were comfortable between them. She’d already made things difficult once today, anyway.

“It’s not that I don’t want it- some days I don’t, sure, but I’m just not used to it. Today… is fine.” Then she held up her arms and moved in to hug Mia lightly.

There was a strong moment where Trisha would’ve felt the strength that came naturally to the Richoux clan. Not-so-naturally, in reality. Cultivated, the product of a perfectly balanced diet of food so precariously teetering on the edge of poison for an entire lifetime. The mythic food of the Gods. Gastronomic Oblivium.
And all of her twenty-one years, for only the briefest of moments, clenched like a locking vice around Trisha wherever the arms fell. It wasn’t pressure, so much as it was the feeling of being locked into a roller coaster. There was a pure safety and security to it that could be felt as strongly as steel.

And then she pulled away.

”Hard to know what to ask. Hard to know what other people know. What’s been said or not. I’m… Sorry. I’ve been tired, y’know, with the Leash and stuff. You’re right, I should’ve- It’s-”

Casey stepped out from behind Trisha finally, hands coming up around her. She didn’t seem like she really wanted his hug. What she’d said was a little poignant, so he figured he’d nip it in the bud before Trisha felt compelled to be upset.

”Hey, hey… What’d you say, huh? Let’s-” He turned his body openly to look at Trisha, one hand moving to rest on her cheek and keep her looking at him while the other held Mia tightly.
”-Babe? Can we… Plan to talk a little more? After Thanksgiving. Because, honestly… We can’t keep this up, right? Dam’s gotta break at some point.”

Mia looked at him, then at Trisha.

”I don’t know what to talk about. I feel like if I go into the core of it she’s gonna-”

Casey leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead, his hand reaching up to the back of her head in a gesture of comfort. When it pulled away to look at her, he smiled widely. As widely as he could, so maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid for just a little while. It helped that, from behind Trisha, Leon and Cass had both stuck their heads out the door. Mia saw Leon’s expression mirroring Casey’s, and she couldn’t help but see her Father’s smile all the same.

She cleared her throat, and nodded at Trisha again.
”-Whenever’s best for you, then… I’ll try and get together what I really have to say. Not like it’s any kind of scathing hateful speech about how I don’t like you. I promise, it’s about the opposite.”

Trisha pressed her lips into a thin line. She didn’t like feeling like everyone else knew something she didn’t. But if it was something about Mia’s feelings… It couldn’t be forced out, and she didn’t think she could handle it right now. Not with Thanksgiving days away. There was already so much. She struggled to not get anxious about it, like she did with so many things.

But Casey seemed calm about it. So it couldn’t be anything too bad, could it?
“Alright, we can talk after Thanksgiving.” She agreed with a slight smile, pressing her face against Casey’s hand and closing her eyes before looking at Mia.
“I’ll try make sure I’m in a good place for it.”

Cass clapped her hands together with a bright grin. Of course she’d tried not to listen in, but it was pretty difficult to zone things out when her hearing was always enhanced nowadays. She had a vested interest in Trisha and Mia getting more comfortable with each other too.

”Awesome, awesome, talking’s good! But… Casey, I can’t believe you’re hogging both Trisha and Mia! C’mon, dude!” She laughed, squeezing her way past to hook an arm around Mia from the other side. She didn’t go for Trisha this time, recognising that her friend was probably not in the mood for any more hugs.

”C’mon, come get comfy- if you take any longer Casey ain’t getting that seat of his, Trish! You snooze you lose!”

“This is… My house…” Trisha protested softly, shaking her head at Cass.

”Take the seat and it’s on. I’ll fuckin’... Absolutely torture you while you’re bed-ridden. I’ll go sit with you and eat crazy good food, and casually exercise in front of you.” Casey pointed back at Cass, a wide grin forming on his face.

”Geeeeze! Look at how quickly your disability gets used against you, Babe! What an ableist ass!” Leon grinned back, his tongue sticking out from between his teeth as he looked up at Casey.

Meanwhile, Ed was close by, with Serenity hanging off her back and over her shoulder. They were both staring down at Cass’ machine as Mia made her way past and flopped on the end of the couch next to Hari.

”Bro, I’m kinda wishing Ginny was here. She’d be nerding out, I bet. Or, y’know, being uppity about how you could’ve done this better or easier. It’s a tossup with her, I think. How’s this shit really work though!? Like, it’s seriously all contained in there? I mean, I know a Bone’s just a computer with a funny shell, but I figured the operating system was all, like, proprietary or some shit! Unless… You’ve just got, like, the Gamepass with all the old games or something on here?” she was asking, fully engaging both herself and her spirit in the act of gathering information.

”Whoa, holy shit! That’s fucking evil, dude!” Cass shouted, gaping at Casey. She tilted her head back with a mock anguished wail.
”Not the fucking casual exercise! At least it make it hardcore, fucking hell! God, Babe, you’re gonna have to keep all these casuals outta the room next time.”

Snickering, she twisted around to bound back into the room. She went via Leon, smacking a quick kiss on his lips before going over to Ed and Serenity. She was more than happy to talk about this shit… It was one of her passions, after all!

”Uh, yeah, the OS is so… I coded it myself! There were a bunch’ve people trying at the time, but none had made something that actually ran all the shit I wanted. It ain’t exactly the same, but it’s enough to run the games. The older ones ain’t so hard cause people already made emulators… Basically this machine dual boots, I choose whether to do the Bone or the older. I gave em a different interface for fun!” Cass grinned, typing in a command to boot it in the Xbox One mode.

It took a little while, loads of lines running across the screen before it went to a little loading screen. Then… What booted up looked pretty similar to the Xbox One’s dashboard. All the games along the top, some other icons to get to the internet and the like. It was a stripped down version, but it was pretty cool.

”Some games are technically computer ones, so they ain’t a problem… But a bunch’re Bone only! It took me ages to get it working but it’s was so fucking worth it. This baby cost me a fraction of a what the actual console would’ve.” Cass grinned, patting the laptop.
”Though I gutted it and replaced all the parts, cause it was… Trisha’s old one, I think? The one you came to uni with, right? Was a kinda crappy one too cause she didn’t know shit about computers then.”

“Thanks.” Trisha intoned sarcastically, shuffling behind Cass to stare at her. Really, she was waiting until Casey decided to sit and get comfy so she could get comfortable around him.
“Yeah, it was that one.”

”Donated to a good cause!”

“Keeping you quiet a whole summer, yeah.” Trisha teased with a smile.

Casey was only slightly embarrassed that people were about to see him and Trisha looking like a giant toddler and his doll in some kind of couch-bound time out. But, pushing through that feeling, he scrambled up into the furthest corner of the couch and pressed himself tightly against the enchanted cushion.
After having worked on Cass’ sick bed, he figured the same effect would do wonders for his giant’s posture problems and all the aches from military service. He was proud to say there was no disability claim in his name, though that was expected of people from his branch as the government’s magical healers were typically top notch in comparison to the Blind doctors.

As he settled in, both legs spread out into a V shape to form Trisha’s own cushion. And when he was ready, he patted his legs with a smile, ushering her toward him.

Trisha also felt a moment of embarrassment, but her desire to be close to Casey- and comfortable in her own home- outweighed that. She climbed on and shuffled over to him, slotting right into the space he’d left her and leaning back onto him. It was like all of the tension left her body when her back hit his chest, her legs curling up slightly so her knees rested against his thighs.

Everyone was staring as if they were observing two rare animals from some hidden blind, watching them go about a ritual unseen by humans. Hari even covered her mouth with one hand, but her wide eyes said it all. Only Ed was still fixated on the computer setup, staring at the wondrous images flashing on the screen of Cass’ custom gaming computer.

”Shit… Could you make this happen again? Or, like, with other stuff? I’m honestly so desperate for my old system, but I’m really not trying to pay those prices for something that old. The memories! They’re so precious to me still!” she asked Cass with great enthusiasm.

”Oh, absolutely! I got all the code so it ain’t like I gotta write it again, just do a bunch’ve setup and get it on another machine. What’re you wanting? There’s a chance I already did it! And if I ain’t, I’m happy to do it as a lil project! All I need is a laptop… Honestly, I probably have one I ain’t using lying around I could gut for it. And if it’s an older system, it don’t even need that good specs!” Cass grinned back, completely matching Ed’s enthusiasm. She wasn’t exactly lacking in time right now either, thanks to the whole being unemployed thing.

Trisha was glad that at least two people were distracted by the wonders of gaming systems, because there were already too many people staring at them like they were the entertainment. She didn’t entirely understand why. Was it because it was her, who didn’t seem all that affectionate? Or because they didn’t just flop down like everyone else?

“Enjoy the show while it lasts.” She managed to say, holding back the more confrontational responses she could’ve given. One hand lazily waved. She was too comfortably cuddled up to get upset now. At least, she didn’t want to.

Then she turned her head back to look up at Casey, speaking with a light tone and a slight smile. Loud enough everyone could hear, at least.
“Have they never seen anyone cuddle before? Or is it because it's us?”

"Its you."

Both siblings’ voices came at the same time. It wasn’t so shocking when they had been somewhat sharing perceptions for the better part of a couple weeks now. Even without the leash, however, they’d always tended to see the same beauty in unexpected places.

For Leon, it was the rare tenderness surely. The perception of Trisha being the hornet and not the bumblebee, and how she seemed to turn soft and fuzzy in the arms of Casey. He felt it made enough sense, that she was right to be comfortable there. Nothing would ever happen to her that he wouldn’t make right, and he found an equal beauty in the ability to take such faith.

And for Mia, it was deeper still. Painfully deep, it seemed. She wanted to be there too, not in a sexual way or any kind of unwholesome fashion. But, in pure loyalty and love beamed into her head by an inexplicable but ever present urge. The voice. The prophet. The herald, and the rebirth in clean air above the world. Clouds aloft on bee’s wings. Primal nature.

Casey cleared his throat, shaking his head.

”This is what we get for being so private about our affections… Not like we’ve been spending a super duper amount of office time together lately…” he shrugged lightly, kissing the top of Trisha’s head and moving his hands to her wrists.

Without her control, he started to move her around like a doll, teasing her playfully and causing Hari to get a little giddy.
”I actually can’t believe you do that. No way he fucking does that often, does he!? Mia!”

Mia rolled her eyes, trying not to seem too curious as to whether or not Casey did, in fact, share that tick without any particular influence to share between them.

Trisha tilted her head, a light blush settling across her cheeks. She wasn’t really used to the positive attention. She didn’t really mind it, but new things were always uncomfortable. It wasn’t like they weren’t affectionate at all in public, but she guessed it was quite different when they were normally around people compared to here where they felt most comfortable.

Maybe it was her getting more comfortable with the company too.

As she let Casey move her, practically limp in his arms, she answered Hari’s question.
“He does it often enough? Is it… a family trait?”

”It ain’t one Leon’s got!” Cass piped up, untangling the controller wires now she’d actually booted the computer.
”Not that he could. I’m way too strong now!”

Trisha half rolled her eyes, still smiling contentedly.
“Casey’d stop if I wanted him to. I don’t need strength for that.”

Casey didn’t say anything, rather adjusting Trisha’s hand so it looked like she was holding something. Then he cracked her arm back and forth in a whipping motion. Leon started cackling, as did Hari in turn. Mia, in typical fashion, shook her head and turned her gaze slightly downward.

”Does it count as being whipped if you’re like, complicit?” she laughed along, finally making her way down between her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s girlfriend with a big grin.

She had intentions of getting back to what she was talking about with Cass, but the moment had once again been stolen by the golden couple being far too cute for words.

Trisha giggled, tilting her head back to smile warmly at Casey as she continued to let him do what he wanted. She really didn’t mind. She was just happy when with him while things seemed… chill.

”Absolutely counts!” Cass cackled loudly, grin bright as she looked at Trisha and Casey. It made her happy to see them happy. Trisha especially… After witnessing her be in so many shit relationships, it was nice to see her in one that was actually working. And would continue to! She was certainly softer than Cass had seen her in a long time.

“Heyy, he’s not whipped, he just loves me… You’re making it sound like I’ve trained him.” Trisha’s smile turned into a mock pout.

Cass continued to laugh, shaking her head.
”Sure, sure… So, who’s gaming? Trisha? You gonna let Casey control your hands and pretend to be you?”

“The last time that happened he hit Mia in minecraft…”

”Oooh! Controller me, bish! What are we playin’, somethin’ really action packed? Casey, you good if we play, like, a shooter?” Ed asked before anyone else could get a word in.

”Oh, probably. The guys in the barracks played Booty and shit like that, so I’ve been around it. My problems are pretty specific, it’d take a weird kind of video game to set me off I think.” Casey admitted freely, having had time and energy at a recent point to dedicate toward working out a better explanation of himself.

”Though, I will reserve the right to just not play? I wasn-”

”-Wasn’t ever good at shooting gaaaaaames! Amazing, you got all that shoulder aim and no thumb coordination.” Leon chided across at his brother as naturally as he breathed. This was the ancient dynamic of brotherhood…

”Nah, I was trying to be nice and not say that I didn’t really wanna hang out with your smelly ass tonight, but go off King.”

”Damn, Casey, that sounds like you don’t like Cass! Trisha? Surely we can’t have him badmouthing the Mobile Ass! Get him, whip him!” she giggled, trying to slide some humor into the moment.

”We can play whatever you wanna, Ed! I got plenty of shooters- sounds fucking fun, honestly, I want something action packed too… And ain’t any pressure for anyone to play! Watching is good too.” Cass grinned, unbothered as she tossed Ed a controller.

“But he’s got control of the whip at the moment.” Trisha jokingly groaned, wriggling her hands in Casey. She did very gently nudge him with her elbow, giggling as well.
“Casey… I won’t allow any Cass slander. Not when you’ve already threatened torture by casual exercise.”

”Nahhhh... It sounds like he don’t want Leon around! Which I get, dude’s a fucking asshole. A sexy one, but still!” Cass cackled, winking at Casey before turning to Leon with a completely teasing grin. Assuming he wanted to play, she dropped a controller into his hands, before her own his cheeks and squished them.

”I’m surprised you got thumb coordination with how fucking big your hands are, Babe.”

Leon happily took a controller with a grin.
”It’s only cheating for so long before it just becomes muscle memory. Usually I use Lelou, but I feel like the natural level of reaction and coordination I’ve got is good enough to whoop Casey’s butt in a match or two.”

Cass said no pressure, but Leon didn’t always roll that way. Not when he knew his little brother had always been so pressurable. It wasn’t like he was aggressive, or super overt to the point of negativity… But he certainly knew which buttons he wanted to push. Only, nowadays, Casey wasn’t so receptive. He’d had the shot he needed: The air hockey match had been enough to tell him that he’d done plenty of work on his magic.

His confidence in the subject at hand was primed, and he had no intentions of giving himself up for the sake of his brother’s nudging.

”You will hear me snoring before I pick up that controller, big brother. That’s just a fact.”

”If you guys don’t mind me cheating, I… I think I want to try.” Hari raised her hand with a lack of sureness.

”Sure, I don’t mind! It ain’t like you can cheat to my level of skill anyway!” Cass laughed, holding out a controller towards Hari.
”Trish, you want the last spot?”

“Uh, no? It’s your gaming party. I’m no good at shooters anyway.” Trisha shook her head.

”You ain’t bad… And we can swap!” Cass exclaimed.

Trisha still shook her head. She was content enough to watch at first.
“Then you go first. I have to make sure Casey doesn’t fall asleep immediately, anyway.”

”Alright, alright.” Cass shrugged, trying to find a free spot on the couch now that everyone was settled. There wasn’t really much space… The options were sitting on Leon, which would definitely throw off both of their gameplay, perching on the edge or… the floor. In the end she chose the latter, planting her ass on the floor and leaning against the couch without much care.

With a grin, she launched one of the newer Halo games.

”I gotta ask… How’re you gonna cheat, Hari? Like, sucking out gaming knowledge from one of our head, or fucking with our minds while we play?!”

”The former!” Hari grunted in response, body twisting and hands reaching out before both grabbed Ed's skull tightly.

”Aw shit, I'mmabout to get sucked o-OoooOOOOOOOO-”

Reactionarily, as Hari dug into Ed's willing mind fishing for anything having to do with the title she saw on the big screen, Ed's brain could only stop the tickling sensation for so long. Soon, she was wriggling against Mia, squirming and laughing reactionarily as Hari pulled every bit of first person shooter understanding that Ed had. Even down to the muscular ticks… The strength of the transition and the time which it took meant that these skills only lasted the duration of the spell, however… But it was enough for a game night.

Finally she pulled away, and Ed looked rather satisfied with a foolish grin consuming her face.

”Damn, my girl gives great head.” she giggled before forcing herself upright again.

”GULCH GULCH GULCH GULCH!” Hari chanted like a mantra, excitement clearly consuming her in turn. She didn't think she'd like all the competitive feelings attached to Ed's game knowledge, but honestly her memories screamed that it was a fun experience.

“Not on my couch, please.” Trisha groaned playfully. Since she wasn’t playing this round it let her curl up against Casey properly, retaining vision of the group and the television. She looked an awful lot like a contented cat.

”I bet you were worried it was gonna be me and Lee, huh?!” Cass laughed, grinning widely as she started to set up the game.
”I’ma put some AI in so it’s more chaotic. We can see if it works!”

The screen split into four, launching into the selection screen where they could choose their loadouts and customise their armour appearance and the like.

“It’s a good thing Cass is on the floor, since she’s a really active gamer.” Trisha commented, tilting her head back towards Casey.
“Remember at the Arcade, how she was with the guns? She does that with console shooters too.”

”I gotta get into the spirit of things!” Cass shouted.
”Leon didn’t seem to mind! We played a couple more after you left that time.”

“I bet he carried you.” Trisha said drily. She didn’t seem at all tense this time bringing up what had been their first fight. There’d been a fair few since, all over much more serious things… But she felt as comfortable as she could right now.

Leon scoffed, sliding and scooping Cass up into his arms. All of her wriggling protests were ignored as he dragged her up and onto the same cushion he was on to occupy a closer space.

”I haven't been carried since I was a toddler! And besides, I want you right here- how else can I mash the controller out of your hand when you start winning?” Leon grinned at Cass, the two of them now intimately close.

He let her leg drape over his, and was hooked around her waist keeping her held close.

”I'm willing to take the return abuse.”

Casey and Mia both turned their heads to bright at one another. It was a picture they'd seen before. Their father, scooping the tense and overly active Junior into his lap and forcing him to play cards… It never worked out well, as Maxwell always cheated by looking at his kids’ cards. They all thought it was normal, and that Daddy was just always supposed to win.

Now they realized, and had been aware collectively, that it was always a joke. His inflection, the way he made it happen, we're never serious in any way. Just a silly little bit, but one none of them ever quite appreciated until it was too late.

”What if she crashes out and starts, like, going feral on your arms and shit? You can't hold a housecat against their will that long…” Mia joked through her genuine smile.

”Oy, I ain’t a housecat!” Cass protested, already wriggling as much as she could with Leon keeping her trapped against him. Not that she minded being so close to him- he was the one who had to suffer far more than she did! Unless he somehow moved as much as she did when gaming, and she had an elbow to the face in her near future.

”If anything, I’ma wildcat! Like… A fucking tiger. Or, ooh, a Jaguar!”
To prove her point, a long, spotted tail grew from the base of her spine. It wrapped around to bat against Mia’s face, stretching as long as it had to to reach.

Then she pointed a finger right in Leon’s face.
”You ain’t winning the controller smacking game, Babe… How you gonna get it out when I got six extra hands! And you’re gonna be dealing with my elbows in your gut like… every few minutes! It ain’t something I can control!”

“Please handicap her, Leon. Most of us don’t have the magical reactions to keep up… So it’s not fair in the first place.” Trisha commented drily.

”You ain’t even playing!”

“But I will be, at some point.”

Leon was grinning a big, stupid grin that only a teenager with full understanding of a wrong they were about to commit would have. That sadistic smile that came with understanding and total lack of empathy. Yet, contrary to the image, he opened his hands and let her go from his grip. He even plopped her back down where she’d been before, his hand running through her hair as he shook his head.

”Honestly, I don’t think I’ll last long enough to keep that up. You win that battle by default.” he shook his head slightly, blood flushing his pale cheeks.

”Leon Hunter! Weakling!” Mia taunted almost immediately.

”Oh, God! Thank you, Leon, honestly. Nobody-”

”-This ain’t one of your orgies. Specially not on our fuckin’ cooooooOOOOOOOOOUCH!” Casey started to yell playfully, chest moving up and down in a chuckle.

”Brother, she’s using you like a futon cushion!”

”Sure, but my dick isn’t a-”

”Shuuuuut uuuuuup! Oh my God!” Mia shouted, laughing as she leaned back into Hari. The three of them were laughing now, until the whole family were cracking up at one another.

Casey had tucked his head into Trisha’s shoulder to laugh without showing too much of his expression.

Trisha hid her own face in her hands, shoulders shaking slightly up into Casey’s head. She was laughing, but embarrassed about it. Like there was some kind of image she had to keep up.

”Oh wait, Babe, I didn’t even think ‘bout distracting you like that!” Cass started cackling, turning around and making to climb right back onto the couch with an evil grin. She exaggerated her movements like she was some kind of monster crawling out from under the couch just to rub her ass all over Leon.

“Not on our couch, please, oh my God.” Trisha managed to get out around laughter, peeking through her fingers.
“You’re going to make me regret letting you in.”

”Awwww, cause you want the couch all to yourself and Casey?” Cass teased with a giggle.

”I won’t let you two defile our comfy couch goddamn you!” Casey blurted out amidst a gaggle of chuckles.

”I’m trying, Casey, she’s just so strong and horny, it’s crazy!” Leon protested, his hands shoving in every direction trying to banish the Mobile Ass back to the floor corner where she rightfully belonged.

”Can’t stop this train once it’s started!” Cass cackled. It was pretty easy to wriggle around hands when you could make your body as stretchy as you liked… She managed to get a grasp on Leon’s thighs, snaking herself back up with a smirk. But the rest of her body didn’t actually touch him. Supporting herself with her arms alone, she hoisted herself up to smack a purposefully loud kiss on his lips.

Then the horny monster descended back to the floor, laughing like an evil witch.
”That chaste enough for you?!”

“Keep your ass down there and I won’t get upset about it.” Trisha shot back, rolling her eyes.

”Heh, I’ll try… And I wasn’t gonna defile your couch! Just get him all fucking riled up so we could then send him to the cold shower of shame!” Cass’ whole face was lit up with laughter. In her excitement she accidentally slammed the start button, and a countdown started on the screen.

”Oh, fuck, guess we’re going?!”

---

There was loads of fun gaming- and Cass moved just as much as Trisha said she did. Jerking from side to side as if she was actually dodging shots, with a lot of yelling. But unlike the arcade, she was actually good. And not above shoving a tail across at least Leon’s eyes when he started beating her at one point. It was a good thing she was the only one on the floor, because anyone nearby would’ve gotten multiple limbs to the face and gut.

But the real surprise was Trisha, when she got a turn. Not that she was amazing… Nowhere near Cass’ well practiced level, but not bad like she’d claimed. And she got pretty loud pretty quickly too. There wasn’t much movement for her aside from her fingers on the controller, luckily for Casey, but it only took a few deaths for her own cursing to match Cass’. Then exceed it, a torrent of swears coming out as she got so into it she didn’t really think about who was around her. It wasn’t like the Trisha many of them were used to.

”Cake break!” Cass declared, after at least a solid hour of playing. She loved Halo, but was honestly getting a bit bored of the same game… And her stomach was starting to grumble, as it tended to every few hours. The joy of being a Green Adept.
”Maybe we can play some kinda co-op after? Assuming Trish and Case ain’t gonna kick us out?!”

Trisha didn’t respond immediately, loosening her death grip on the controller in her hands and relaxing properly against Casey again. As she came back to herself more the embarrassment began to set in, and she twisted around to hide her face against him.

“You can stay a bit longer… It’s not even the evening yet.” Came her muffled response.

Cass grinned, hopping up off her spot on the floor. She spun around to face Leon- heads at a more equal height with him sitting and her standing- and leaned forward to stare right into his eyes.

”How’s it feel to be a big, fat loo-ser.” She taunted teasingly, tongue poking out from behind sharp teeth. He wasn’t the overall loser, obviously, but between the two of them? He absolutely was.

”Like being a pig hanging out with a hippo, you big, fat winner!” Leon chided back, tossing the controller on the couch and half rolling, half diving off the couch to clamber on top of her in the corner.

Ed and Hari had been swapping the controller between each other whenever the whimsy came, sometimes right in the middle of a gunfight, so their game had clearly been played just as much against one another as the other three. But both were laughing as they discussed the games among themselves. Mia had long since scooted her way next to Casey and Trisha, and had been quietly basking in the warmth of a vaguely energized Trisha. She and Casey had been swapping jokes and poking fun at the others between photo connected brains. Pictures, memes even, created on the fly between two people who shared some of the oddest parts of their senses of humor.

Casey himself had been trying to provide Trisha with extra eye coverage, but her reaction speed to his backseat gaming combined with her general attitude had him rethinking that course by the time things were winding down.

”Leon! You’ve gotta let her out so she can have her cake!” Hari chided, still laughing as she looked over and saw Leon’s body looming in the corner as the two play-slapped at one another for dominance.

”Please, if she wants out she’ll get out!” Leon laughed, unable to look back or give any other attention to tasks besides delving and blocking blows as he tried to playfully slap at her face and cheeks.

”Yeah, he ain’t got shit on me now, Hari!” Cass cackled, letting him catch her with his hands a couple of times just so she could get him back at the exact same time. But it wasn’t like it was a battle he could win right now… Not when two more limbs grew out from just below her armpits. Noodles that wrapped around his wrists to keep them away with far more strength than the floppy things looked like they should have. It was just too much effort to make two more arms and hands.

It left her own free to grasp his face and squeeze.
”Awww, you’re so cute.” She teased as she squished his cheeks up like they were playdough. She darted up for a quick peck on his forcefully pouted lips, before full slithering under and through his legs.

“Can you not turn into a horror movie villain in the middle of my house, please?” Trisha made the mistake of turning her face away from Casey’s chest to witness a four limbed Cass stretching out from under Leon like she was made of rubber.

”Uh, not really? My body’s just kinda like this now! Well, the limb growing’s on purpose- it’s all kinda on purpose, I got control, but sometimes it ain’t… And I gotta use my magic anyway!” Cass shrugged as she pulled the two extra limbs back in with a purposefully squelch.

Trisha grimaced slightly. It wasn’t like it really bothered her- she’d seen far worse horrors fighting the Stygian Snake when she was just a teenager. But that wasn’t in her home! But it was fine, it was all fine… She just wasn’t really in a rush to get up. It wasn’t like she wanted cake, so she made no move to get off Casey. In fact, she curled up onto him more now that she wasn’t holding a controller.

“I’m sorry if I snapped at you while gaming.” She said softly into his shoulder, reflecting on just how she’d been in the heat of the moment- and towards his backseat suggestions.

Leon could only laugh at Cass’ shenanigans. She was funny about it in the way a cartoon character was, the stretchy limb bit almost certainly ripped off from what he’d shown her over their training sessions so far. But, the extra spiderlimbs were fucking horrifying in the right context, and she already faux pas’d so hard that a new bedroom rule had to be made because of them. He was used to enough strangeness that the concept didn’t really bother him, but it was her creativity, and what she used them for at any given time, that gave him the heebie jeebies.

Hari and Ed were already getting up to meet Cass at the door, with Leon following behind.

”Y’know, I really fuckin’ hate the powerups. Like, there were so many times I was gonna ki-” their conversation about Halo mechanics faded down the hall and into the kitchen.

Mia patted Casey on the shoulder, leaning in to give him a peck on the cheek before standing up herself.
”I’ll save you guys a couple pieces.” she stuck her tongue out before rotating fully to follow the group, leaving Casey and Trisha alone like they wanted in the first place.

”Just say that you don’t want my help! Y’know, when you don’t say anything and then snap? It kinda, y’know, gets irritating. Probably not as bad as getting back seat callouts from someone who isn’t playing though, right?” he asked purposefully, finally rubbing Trisha’s arm and holding her tight.

”I love you… It’s okay. You’ll never irritate me so bad that I won’t want you to be right here.” he added calmly, kissing the top of her head.

Trisha nodded slowly. Like with so many problems, it wasn’t like she was acting that way on purpose. And she’d honestly forgotten how she got when gaming like that… It didn’t help that so often it involved Sal flaming both her and Cass. She could’ve at least warned him.

But it was part of the bigger problem of her not saying anything until it just exploded out, but on a smaller scale. She could at least recognise that.

“I didn’t think I’d get that annoyed.” She admitted, tilting her head up so that she was looking at him instead of hiding.
“I don’t think it’s bad you wanted to be involved… It just made me feel worse at the game, and then threw me off, then I got more frustrated. It isn’t even that serious, so I don't feel that inadequate. Really, I was… In competitive mode. I should’ve said as soon as I felt a bit annoyed by it.”

”Yeah, you should have! But, it’s over now, isn’t it; so I’ll remember for next time, that way we won’t need to worry about anything. Gosh, y’know you’re so damn lucky… ‘Cuz I love every little bit of you.”

Casey hugged Trisha close, as tight as he could without squeezing too hard.

”Are… You sure you want them around still? D’you wanna go upstairs and rest? We can just let them all hang out in here; we don’t need to babysit.” Casey offered thoughtfully, since she didn’t seem terribly interested in cake diving.

“I know how lucky I am. I’m the luckiest.” Trisha whispered with a soft smile, hugging Casey right back. She wriggled up a bit to press a gentle kiss to his cheek as she thought about whether she wanted to take that offer or not.

It would be easier to go upstairs and rest. But she’d still feel a certain amount of on edge having them in the house. And she wasn’t struggling with it as much as she thought she would be. Maybe because there was the game to take all of their attention, and she was able to comfortably cuddle Casey through it.

In a way it was like exposure therapy. Getting herself more used to having so many people around, a bit at a time.

“I can do a bit longer, I think. Depending what the next game is. Cass suggested a co-op game… That might be more chill. Then we can even sort of play together- I won’t mind the backseat gaming for something like that.” She said eventually, smiling at him.
“Another hour or two, then I think I’ll be done. But I’m not struggling as much as I thought I would. Probably because I have you right here to cuddle. Thank you for looking out for me so much.”

Maybe it was too much, and part of it came from her not being used to it still, but she wanted to make sure Casey knew that she really did appreciate it whenever she could. All the big and little things he did or suggested while thinking about her. So he didn't think she was ever taking it for granted.

Casey cuddled Trisha just a little tighter, hands rubbing her back and shoulders to try and get her to relax. But, she was already pretty loose and lacking in tension. It was a proud moment.

”I'm so proud of you. That's exactly the kind of improvement we can track! Your bullshit tolerance is crazy; look at you chilling with people in your space! You even participated in the games first!” he kissed her again, being sure to list all the things he did notice so she'd be inclined to repeat the behavior hopefully…

”Do you want to skip the cake? Mia said she'd save some for us. I trust her.” he added, knowing that he probably wanted some cake, and it'd be better to eat with friends.

Trisha's shoulders pushed up into a little shrug, smiling sappily at him. The improvement he mentioned didn't seem that amazing, but he was happy about it… proud of her for it… And it was an improvement. Things weren't going to just be better immediately.

She wasn't hungry, but she wasn't so full she couldn't have a little bit. Probably not enough to have a whole slice, but she could steal some from Casey's if his was big enough. She didn't really care one way or the other. Sure, it was more comfortable to stay here, but they'd be coming back anyway.

“I don't mind." She voiced, in case the shrug wasn't enough.
“Do you want to eat cake just now? I probably won't have much, but if you want to we can go through. It isn't all about me."

”I think if you really wanted any, we could get it delivered to us. But, I’m okay for now. Not like we can’t get our own cake. We’re adults. Just sit here with me and relax in the quiet.”

Casey let his head tilt back, frankly satisfied with the level of noise and laughter coming from the other part of the house. He’d be able to sleep so much better if every night was like this… The best parts of having a family were these kinds of moments. He felt satisfied for the first time in a week.

Out in the kitchen, a surrounding murder session ripped into the emerald green triple-decker cake. There were designs of little beans on the surface, along with YOU MADE IT CASS! in big, pink letters like flowers. The innermost layer of cake was marbled green and white, with the second layer a pinkish-red and the top being a golden angel cake.

”So the bottom layer is your bones, then your muscles. Then the top is, well, yesterday really. The golden moment of the finish line! We hope you like it, Cass!” Hari asked as she slapped a big slab of cake onto a plate and handed it off to Cass with a fork.

”We’re all super fucking happy that it was caught when it was, Cass! And, for the fact that there’s any kind of treatment. And, and- Well, you know where I’m going with this!” Mia giggled, wrapping herself half around Leon and planting a kiss on Cass’ cheek.

"I do, I do! I'm real glad too that it ain't gonna be worse than is… But fucking hell, Mimi- scrap being a nurse, you three should run a fucking cake business! Make em, decorate em- damn!" Cass grinned, only half joking. It was incredibly impressive… The decoration, the bake, the thought! A bit morbid, but that just made her love it more.

She didn't hold back in digging right into the large slice, shovelling a piece of each layer in with a groan.
"Is so gooooddd." She practically moaned through the sugary goodness.

She put it down for just a moment, before going to scoop each girl in turn up for a massive, tight hug. She would've gone for the cheek kiss too, but emerald green frosting already covered her lips.
"You gotta make my birthday cake, I swear, I'll do anything if you do. It ain't even gotta be this fancy… fucking hell, seriously! All that hell was worth it!"

Picking back up her plate to continue devouring, Cass turned a slightly green stained grin towards Leon. Her eyebrows raised up and down a few times.
"Now you can eat even more of my insides, Babe."

”My God, Baby, you’re absolutely shameless!” Leon laughed, shaking his head before tucking her under his arm and pulling her into a kiss.

”Oh please, don’t act like we don’t remember Piper Nolan.” Mia gave a wide grin, turning her head to Ed.

The reaction was immediate, with Ed tilting her head back and laughing in a long, continuous exhalation until there was no air left. All the while, Leon shook his head.

”I’m sorry, are we bringing up, what, like almost fifteen years ago? You two were barely old enough to remember a-”

”-Oh, don’t play that game! Because she and I both have the exact same memory of you dumping us with Ms. Nolan, and the last time we saw you that day, you two were practically dry humping at the edge of the forest!”

”In plain view! Ms. Nolan literally screeched like a fucking bird!”

Ed almost dropped her cake plate with laughter as Leon turned bright red.

”D’you really think either of us were paying attention at that point?” he laughed, trying to play it off as cool as possible.

"At the fucking edge of the trees?! You didn't even walk a lil in to try be hidden? Too fucking horny to even get past the fucking tree line?!" Cass cackled, reaching up to pinch Leon's cheek teasingly. It was cute how he was trying to pretend it didn't bother him while his face had gone the colour of a tomato.

"And you're calling me shameless?! At least I ain't ever been caught dry humping by my lil brothers… or any of my family! Or my partner's family! And I had to get real creative 'bout where it happened to avoid that. God, Babe…" Cass shook her head laughing. She hoped it was obvious she was just teasing and not actually laughing at him.

Her lips pulled up into a teasing smirk.
"Started the exhibitionism young, huh? Are the edges of forests still on the card, or you scarred for life?" She joked.

”Maybe not such a public forest edge.” Leon half grumbled, embarrassed but not entirely denying Cass' playful suggestion.

”We call that shit forest edging. Horny ass people.” Ed giggled between bites of cake, the thick buttercream frosting weighing heavily on the tongue.

”Mobile ass people.” Mia chortled, covering her nose so she didn’t snort fully.

”Oh my God you two haven’t stopped being annoying. Shit’s honestly crazy.” Leon replied in a jokingly defensive manner.

”I’m way more curious to hear about how you make sex during an active aerial bombardment work. Weren’t you guys basically cramped up in metro tunnels like Moscow?” Hari asked, instinctively leaning against the nearby counter in preparation for story time.

"Well yeah, but not all've the time! Only when there were actually raids, which weren't every night. Some've em weren't so major, they'd only last a few hours then we'd come out. Plenty of time to fuck outside of it." Cass shrugged.
"Most people were too scared to be fucking during anyway! But it honestly would've been possible in the tunnels… Just try sneak off to a dim corner. The sobbing and wailing and explosions would cover it up. But the above ground ones- the fucking Anderson shelters- you were crammed in their like sardines. Moving was basically impossible, nevermind sex!”

She spoke energetically about what had been a pretty dark period of her life all round. But she was never one to mope, especially not in setting like this. She took a brief break to devour some more cake, getting a bit of frosting on her nose in her ferrous, before continuing with a more personal story.

”It was way more likely a siren went off while you were doing it! That happened to me, heh. I was at this girl's place cause her parents were both working, and we're right in the middle of it, y'know, butt ass naked… Air raid sirens goes off, she fucking panics, I kinda panicked… we just grabbed whatever the fuck we could before running to a shelter- one of the fucking small ones, no chance of tryna get back to it! Then I had to lie out my ass to my parents about why I was wearing shit that wasn't mine when they found me after. Thank fuck her trousers fit me enough that I didn't have to explain why I didn't have any fucking underwear on too!"

She laughed, because it was funny in retrospect. Not so much at the time. It wasn't like she was out to her parents then. Or now, really, because she knew what the reaction would be and just didn't bother. She didn't want them in her life much anyway.

”How fucking sordid, oh my God!” Hari laughed between bites of cake.

But Ed was the one really laughing.

”Cousin Sydney has stories like that from before the occupation too. I don't think we would've lasted-”

”Oh, one of our dumb asses would've gotten blown up or captured or something, for sure.” Mia interrupted Ed, causing all three girls to crack up.

”Ed! Babe, you remember that time at the Schismata concert in Utah?”

”Yes! Exactly! Oh my God, so, Cass; we-”

”-Oh, Jesus, spare me this one. Like it isn't embarrassing enough to have walked in on?”

"Wait, the fuck happened?" Cass asked, attention rapt on the girls.

The girls all were wracked with laughter, with Hari having to put her plate of cake down to prevent dropping it by accident. She buckled at the knees, and her torso curled inward as she tried to press all the laughter out. Her reaction only made Ed and Mia laugh harder in turn until none of them could actually tell the story.

Leon was laughing too, but the kind of laughter that said “I'm just impressed they're laughing this hard again.”

”Yeah, yeah! You ruined a bunch of music equipment because you got to roam around backstage without having your hands held!”

”We were perfectly fine where we were! Someone scared the shit out of us! Absolutely not our fault all those amps and speakers were stacked so high!”

"Wait, wait, so you were fucking backstage? And Leon walked in? Or someone else?! Or was it everyone backstage cause of all the shit that fell- holy fuck!" Cass started laughing too as she was trying to figure out exactly what had happened without actually knowing what had happened.

She looked up at Leon with a grin.
"To be fair, ain't it expected from a rock concert? Kinda one've my fantasies, y'know. Get to go backstage with one've the band, get down and dirty."

She waggled her eyebrows, completely serious about that one.
"Not getting caught and ruining a bunch've equipment, though!"

”Not when you’re seventeen and you’re at a music festival with several thousand people just outside. If we want to talk about shit like exhibitionism, talk about that!” Leon blurted out with a sneer.

”We were literally five or ten feet from a fucking recording camera, Cass! When all the amps fell, it absolutely decimated the guy holding it when he turned to get footage! And for a brief second, I’m certain that camera was recording us getting clobbered by the pile of electronics as it flung through the air!” Ed could only cackle harder, tilting her head back and stomping her foot against the floor.

Hari’s laughter only matched Ed’s, a truly cacophonous echoing of two bellowing ladies sharing a genuinely funny memory. Funny to them, at least: It was good so long as nobody died. Schismata was a Temple-adjacent band, and the whole family had been traveling on the tour to support Leon and Marc fronting with an early version of Decent Exposure.
Not that it wasn’t already a crazy band to be fronted by: Half the crowd came to see Marc after the second MACHINE album had been so successful. Those were good times, and it did make Leon genuinely happy to remember it.

Mia was just mortified to have it brought up in “mixed” company. Not that Cass was much different than an old friend at this point, but she felt embarrassed anyway. She leaned against Leon’s shoulder, tucking her face into her arms and snort-laughing uncontrollably.

Cass was laughing away. The whole situation was just hilarious to her- she hadn't been there. Sure, the fact that they were underage was a bit of a problem… and the audio equipment… but fucking hell, the image was hilarious!

"Alright, maybe coulda chosen a better place! Maybe further from the camera and, like, not so public when underage… heh… Shoulda found an empty tent or toilet like the rest of us festival going freaks!" She shook her head, wiping away tears.
"But it's still fucking… hilarious… I'm just imagining you all in a fucking pile with audio shit tryna join! Fuck, haha- It wasn't a live recording, was it?! At least they could edit that shit out!"

She grinned, looking from the laughing woman back up to Leon. She nudged him with her elbow lightly.
"I bet you were goin' fuckin' crazy at festivals… You just ain't get caught! The lesson here is choose your spot carefully!"

”Please; too busy on stage at something like Schismata. Especially that show, but… Well, only really if I’m not there to perform! Or, at least, I’ll wait until after I know there’s no more shows to do.” Leon admitted, the others starting to settle down.

”That, I’m pretty sure, is true. Lee’s got Dad focus.” Mia nodded, looking up at him with a hint of admiration.

”Dad called it the ‘Pull of Gravity’. Makes sense to me: I see a goal, I lock in on it, and it tugs me there.” Leon confirmed.

If only he felt it how Mia felt it. The thought echoed in her ears loudly as her imagination was brought back to the two in the other room. Suddenly she was eying the two plates with cake still untouched.

”Lovebee and the Barking Poodle haven’t come out. Their cake pieces are gonna get stale.” she pouted.

"Oh fuck, you're right!" Cass exclaimed. She'd basically already finished her slice in between laughing and talking. She hoovered up the last piece before putting the plate down and pointing a finger at Leon.

"You distracted me from the love of my life, Trisha, with thoughts of festival sex. Fuck!" She unfairly and jokingly accused, finger darting forward to poke his cheek. She followed it up with a bouncing kiss in the same spot.

"I'll go check on ‘em! They're probably just being all cuddly and shit… I got the toughest skin, I can handle getting stung by an angry Trisha if she ain't happy to be interrupted!"

She didn't wait for a response, bounding right towards the Den and pushing through the slightly ajar door.
"Honeyyyy, there's cake waiting for you!"

Trisha looked up as Cass slipped in, letting the door fall half closed behind her. She'd been enjoying the moment of peace, curled up against Casey like she was trying to become part of him. She was relaxed enough that she didn't snap at the sudden intrusion, just hit Cass with a withering stare.
“We’re alright."

"But it's gonna go stale!" Contrary to her concern, Cass actually climbed onto the empty spot on the couch with a grin.
"Ohhh… are you still full from what Casey made?! Or- all the food from your date?! Oooh, Casey, how did you find the sandwiches Trish made? Where they… extra wet."

Casey had his face half-buried in Trisha’s hair, and started to laugh as soon as Cass asked about the sandwiches being wet. How could he not, knowing full well what could have been.

”God, no! No, she recanted after you savagely bullied her for her… Cum tunnel sandwich!” he started giggling wildly, pulling Trisha tight and squeezing to make sure she couldn’t run from the embarrassment.

Trisha started to turn red, trying to twist in Casey's arms to at least hide her face against him if she couldn't escape. She never should've sent Cass that picture asking for advice… She would've ended up doing what she did anyway, and just not put any mayonnaise in them!

"Hey, I didn't savagely bully her! I just sent a bunch of laughing emoji and said it looked like my dick! Which it totally did! Or maybe it was more like my-"

“No! Don't start comparing it to other things! Get your head out of the gutter!" Trisha interrupted, now bright red. Not that she'd minded Casey's joke at the time or now just the more it went on… the more she thought about her own failure to make a fucking sandwich.

Cass cackled, shuffling forward closer to them both.
"Hey, I think it's cute you tried even though it clearly ain't somethin' your good at! I bet Leon'd do the same if he tried to make me a sandwich!"

”Y’know how hard it would’ve been to keep a straight fuckin’ face if you pulled that shit out of the bag, Babe? I’m sorry, I think I would’ve lost it in your face.” he giggled, kissing her on the top of the head as she somehow got closer to him than she already was.

He probably wouldn’t have eaten it, either. There was mortar condiment, but then there was a step too far. A clear mishap. Thankfully, she at least managed to intuit that something was wrong, and made steps to correct the problem. Even if that meant exposing herself to harassment by text.

”To answer you, Cass, the sandwiches were great. She decided we should mayo up our own sandwiches, and brought some with her kit. Way better decision. Though, we’re gonna talk about toppings and stuff, because it was chicken and raw cucumber. I get where her head was at, but they were still haggard. We’ll get there, Bee.” he rubbed her shoulder, still giggling away.

Trisha managed to smile, nodding.

"See, that's real smart, letting everyone do their own mayo! Stops it getting soggy as fuck!" Cass grinned. Chicken and raw cucumber didn't sound like the worst combination… she'd eat it, at least! Then again, she'd eat just about anything.
"Just gotta get some filling lessons then you're sorted!"

“It’s not like I ever bothered making my own… or thought much about what was in them." Trisha said softly.
“I was rarely hungry enough to try making one."

"Yeah, which is a bad habit too! You totally didn't eat enough!" Cass immediately snatched up a new point, looking at Casey for agreement. Though, from what Cass had seen she'd been doing better recently. At least there was someone there to eat with her and make sure she did eat.

”I’m getting more used to the whole bird-behavior. Mia was kinda like that as a kid, and Dad used to say something about her not starving, ‘cuz you’d notice. Way I see it, she eats what she wants when she’s comfortable to do so! She’s been alive this whole time otherwise, and I’ve seen hunger. Been hungry myself. She’s… Not.” he grinned sincerely, unable to prevent himself from growing sweet and understanding no matter what Trisha’s problem was.

Was it realistic, or just enabling as a behavior, he wasn’t sure. But, he was sure that Cass had a very different perception of what healthy was as opposed to either of them. He was far more concerned with her mental health, with the assumption that she’d get better over time in the physical aspects.

”She’s been doing good though, Cass. We’re working on it!”

Cass let out a thoughtful hum as she looked between Trisha and Casey.
"I suppose she had been doing better… just don't come crying to me if she faints from forgetting to eat for a few days!"

“That only happened twice." Trisha responded evenly, glad that Casey seemed to be on her side. Not that Cass wasn't. She was just concerned… but Trisha just didn't really feel hunger. And she had gotten a lot better at following a meal routine so she ate what her body probably needed.

"Three times! I'm counting the time I wasn't there!" Cass put her hands on her hips, trying to look stern- but it didn't last long until she was smiling again.
"You guys know best, I suppose. I trust you to make sure she doesn't either away, Casey."

”Hey, y’know, worst comes to worst, I gaslight her into eating a piece of chicken. Sometimes I tell her it's a Sycamore member she doesn’t like, and she gets all ferocious. Just, it probably isn't a good thing that it's almost always fried chicken. I can’t keep myself away, honestly.” he admitted, thinking about all the late night order-ins where he basically fed her drumsticks while she stared at a screen.

Cass tilted her head back and laughed.
"Hey, so long as you work it off, it ain't a problem, right?! Motto I live by! Or used to, it ain't a problem anymore cause I just burn shit off by existing. But I wanna see ferocious Trisha devouring Sycamore fried chicken!"

“I don't get that ferocious." Trisha grumbled, one hand wriggling up to pinch Casey's cheek to express her joking displeasure. Not actually upset, apart from maybe that he was sharing a joking and cute moment between them… but it was with Cass.

"Heh, sure you don't… So if I tell you the cake is, uh, Greyson, will you eat it? I mean it's technically my body but we can pretend!"

Trisha stared for a moment before laughing.
“No, I don't want to poison myself!"

Casey giggled at the exchange, appreciative of their friendship. Ultimately, Casey loved that Trisha had anyone like Cass. But, for her to be perfect? The greatest kind of foil that a person like Trisha could ask for? It felt like fate and divinity playing games in her life. Giving, and also taking.

”Leon’s eaten Greyson’s cake before, I bet. All those nights spent drinking alone in hotel rooms? They’re both totally gay… Leon likes danger, and I hear Greyson likes getting dommed.” Casey grinned, sticking his tongue out from between his teeth as he heard loud shuffling.

”I’m gonna ignore that you said that and just eat your piece of cake.” Leon grunted, stuffing the hunk of cake into his mouth frosting first.
”Ewww, that’s incest big bro, get away from my cake.”

”Caseeeeeey!!!” Mia groaned, pushing in from behind Leon and moving back to her seat.

Casey and Leon both started laughing. Ed wasn’t far behind, picking up the humor.

”Oh, I know, like she’s totally hung up on that one!” Ed laughed.

Suddenly, the living room was filling back up with laughter and fun as the group fully shuffled in to recapture the family vibes. A piece of cake was brought in for the lovey dovey couple, which Casey ate most of but managed to share with Trisha before the co-op session started.

A relatively quiet evening, with the looming threats lurking in the background of St. Portwell. One to cherish as the days grow harder.

---

Even though it had been a chill evening of coop gaming in the second half, Cass was still incredibly energised when they went back to her apartment later. More so because there hadn't been as much excitement… She was still more than energetic enough during anything, but nothing used up her energy.

It made it really hard to not just jump Leon the moment they were in the door. There were days of lost time to make up for, after all… but they had shit to talk about! She couldn't let her horniness and high energy take over! Otherwise, it'd just come out at the worst time anyway. They'd talk about it, get it over with, then have marathon sex.

"Sooooo..." Cass started as she bounced fully into her apartment, twisting around to flop onto her couch rather than climbing Leon like she really wanted to.

"Can we talk about some things? That came up when I was talking to Mia? It, uh, ain't just the one thing I assume you ain't told me yet cause I was sick. I got stuff to talk to you about too!" She was doing her best to not just launch into it like she'd made the mistake of doing before, but also couldn't just ask to talk without some kind of qualifiers. She was too used to dealing with people with insane anxiety!

Leon cleared his throat instinctively. If it had to do with Mia, it must have to do with what happened the other night. And, probably this morning. She had gone down to make up… But in that regard, prospects only expanded as to what the discussion could be. What exactly had they gotten into?
Rather than sit on the couch next to her, he proceeded to divest himself of shirt and pants in favor of simple basketball shorts, before sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her to look up. When he was younger, he’d learned to do this with Lynette as it kept her mostly placid knowing she had your full attention.

Now it was somewhat habitual, though they hadn’t had enough moments like this where his full attention was actually being requested.

”Sure, sure… What’d I say my middle name was? Transparent and honest or something stupid? Shoot, Babe.” he prompted her, leaning in to look up at her fully.

"Can you- Did you hafta take most of your clothes off?!" Cass squeaked out weakly, covering her eyes for a moment.
Deep breaths, Cass. You're more than your instincts. You won't be defeated by insane pecs, abs and calves. Nope. You see it all the time! Control yourself!

It was so much harder when they weren't in public to keep that control… but she managed it, clearing her throat and uncovering her eyes like she wasn't some rabid horny dog ready to jump him at a moment's notice.

"I guess we'll start with your stuff, then… Mia said about the leash? That you're thinking about taking it off? Destroying it, even? Cause she ain't up to it and Lelou suggested the beans… I dunno, it's a big thing, cause you were so excited to get it back! So I was kinda shocked! And it affects other people around you too… Anyway, I'm hoping you were gonna tell me, and just haven't yet cause there wasn't a chance?"

”Well, no… I was going to tell you the moment it became a plan rather than a consideration.Though, I can already see where you may take that as, like, a decision affecting you. Because it does. But, again, I won’t lie and say that I was just waiting for a good time.” Leon explained in a very flat fashion.

Typically, in a situation like this, he just gave himself up. If the relationship buckled under the pressure of truth, then that’s where it was structurally weak to begin with. He didn’t expect the answer to satisfy her in any regard, but it was the simple truth of the matter: That releasing Lelou now, to give her a bigger part in his life with the promise of better things to come, would hopefully break the bullshit cycle of keeping her locked up.

”I’m more than happy to go into the thought process behind my reasoning too, I mean, you just say the word.” he waved her on to make any potential request she had vocal.

Obviously Cass wasn't particularly thrilled that he hadn't planned to say anything until it was already decided and done. It wasn't like she was controlling or anything and thought they had to tell each other everything… but some things were more major than others! Like technically her helping Mia had nothing to do with him, but she was still gonna talk to him about it first!

"Yeah- Yeah, I wanna know your thoughts! I ain't bringing it up to, like, shoot it down and tell you not to. I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea or anything!" She said.
"But you can see how it'd be way worse to have it just dropped on me down the line, right? Like way more of a fucking shock… I just think it's good to be open about major things, y'know? I ain't even saying you gotta take my opinion into account here. But yeah, this one's something pretty major, so I'd like to know before… and the whys! 'Specially since Mia mentioned the beans, and I assume it ain't just that, but I don't want you making a decision just cause've something that helped me!"

Leon nodded his head immediately, trying to figure out why he assumed that telling her then was better than before. Well, obviously she was kind of right no matter what: There hadn’t been so much time that they weren’t just grunting and cussing at one another. Frankly, it was a miracle it was coming up now. He was almost certain she would’ve been disarmed by the strip knockout. But, her heart was clearly into the topic, so he couldn’t blame her.

”Well… For starters, my main thought was that, if you expressed an overly negative opinion toward the idea when I presented it to you, then it’d outweigh my decision at the time and I’d happily reverse course and plan something new alongside you. It never crossed my mind that the decision was completely made by the time it reached you, if that makes sense?” he did his best to explain the conclusion he came to about the prior topic.

”Beyond that, it becomes a matter of a few personal ass things. I’d say that, uh… Well, I’ve had a lot of vivacious partners since Lelou and I have come into our thing. And, a lot of the time, she enjoys the fun. But, honestly? I’ve never felt the satisfaction that I feel from her when I’m with you. And, that’s… Part of why I miss her, I think. Uh… Is it… Damn, y’know, saying it out loud right now is making this sound way different than my initial thought was, okay, back the fuck up Lee…”

He cleared his throat again, eyes widening at the newly acquired prospect in his head. With a much sharper expression, he looked squarely at Cass.

”Babe, you’re… So fucking crazy right, right? If… Honestly, if I thought about it more like this, I would’ve come to you as soon as I had this thought! Because, uh… I… I think I’m trying to say I want… And I think she’d consider… Can polyamorous love exist between two people and a ghost?” he asked her, eyes widening, hands reflexively softening as if he had no more will to guard.

The fully truthful, entirely actualized Leon.

"Why couldn't it? She's a- Well she ain't a person, but she's gotta mind of her own, right! She's her own… being. That's all you need for any feelings to exist, right?" It was a pretty easy answer for Cass. Honestly, there'd always been some assumption on her part that Lelou was involved? Maybe not in the same way emotionally as her and Leon were. Like, Leon was her boyfriend, but Lelou wasn't… nothing.

She leaned forward, hands reaching out for Leon's.
"Did you not wanna say till you'd decided cause've that thought?! Well I guess you just said you would've come to me if you thought more about it like this… anyway… Yeah, it absolutely could exist! Well I ain't sure if Lelou's definition is the same… And it's a bit weirder when the two of you gotta share your body… but totally!"

Her head tilted from side to side as she tried to figure out exactly what to say and how. Like yes, let's go for it, try and make a weird ass poly relationship work? Ultimately, if he wanted Lelou out, it was his choice. But it was still not that simple… would destroying the leash be enough to stop her from trying to take over his body? Because Cass really didn't want that…

"Honestly, I didn't think too much about it, but I assumed there was kinda already something there with Lelou like… since she was always there, in you, even if it wasn't… A relationship. If anyone was gonna have problems with it, I assumed it'd be you!"

Leon shrugged off the tension, somehow still shocked that she’d have an entirely pragmatic and understanding viewpoint of what was going on. But her adaptability felt so good… So affirming.

”I didn’t realize how good things had gotten until I realized that… Well, I liked the benefits of her being loose. Or, looser. I think letting the seals free is something we’ll need to work up to, obviously. I’m hoping she is who I think she is in that regard… That, y’know, a lot of what I’ve dealt with is because we’ve been treating her unfairly. My family and I, I mean. She was always something that needed suppressing, or quelling. That’s why the seal system is so complex, and why it needs an external controller to begin with. It’s… Rough.”

Not like he wasn’t interested in naming the actual benefits to having her in his head, but the sensation of hope he had was so strong that it was hard to suppress in itself.

”Then, when you came around, things got really good. I had the chance to actually, y’know… Enjoy her too. It was always a tenuous attraction, but once you came, I could feel her comfort too. The part that was missing, I guess.” he shrugged again, this time not really knowing how else to describe what he was feeling.

”For the first time ever, since my Cousin disappeared with the Leash, she started actually filtering my hearing through her brain first. I could taste and smell better. Even touching you. She made everything better for me, because I was making things better for her, I think. An understanding was building. God, I feel insane…” he finally admitted with a sigh.

Cass slid off the couch and onto Leon's lap, thankfully focused enough on the conversation to ignore any horny thoughts it brought up. She just felt fucking weird talking to him from above, and they were basically talking about relationship shit now! Why shouldn't she be touching him?

"It ain't that insane… not any more insane than having a ghost in there in the first place! Like… I bet people have loads've different ghost relationships. From what Trish and you've told me, the Temple don't seem to have too good an opinion of Apparitions at all… So of course the most common thing is suppressing. And you're feeling stuff that goes against all've that!" Even if he was technically engaged to Lelou, something he'd told her before anyone else could. She'd accepted that too, though then it had purely been a Temple oddness thing.

"She ain't just gonna make things easy for you when you're suppressing her, but I bet she wants it to work out… like you said, an understanding was building! More of an equal relationship!" She wasn't sure where she was going with this besides agreeing with him on that point. It did make sense the problems were because of the suppression, assuming Leon really had gotten to know Lelou.

"Either way, I don't think you're insane to think or feel that. Kinda hard to not like shit being better!" She continued, reaching up to hold his face in her hands. She couldn't help but squeeze it a bit.
"I don't think it's as easy as just taking it off, cause you're gonna have to… Well, she ain't gonna be too happy it went back on in the first place, is she? But if it's what you wanna do and what you think’s best… I support it. And I'm down for whatever funky poly relationship comes outta it."

”I won’t even know until the Leash is deactivated. That’s kind of the other other part. Daisy and I were friends! She was like another sister, but way tougher than Mia. She could handle the fuck out of the Leash. But, Mia can’t. And the Leash is set up purely for the Daughters of the bloodline to tame the Queen of Beasts. Mia’s out. Daisy’s definitely out, my other cousins are either Blind or gone, and my Mom certainly ain’t the one I want carrying that torch. But, I really can’t keep pushing that onto Mia.”

He was doing his best to remain logical through all this. After all, this had come up as something having to do with her initially.

”It’s not fair to her when she never asked for this. Nobody here asked for this but me, really. Well, Mom encouraged me. But, you’re right ultimately. People in my world hate Adjoined. People think they’re complimenting me when they say shit like ‘Oh you’re so brave, I never would’ve given up my magic.’ Like they’re so fucking humble. Like if I’d have done it for the connection, I would’ve somehow become a fucking pariah. I guess I would’ve.” he shook his head, holding onto Cass’ side to keep her upright fully.

”Probably…” Cass frowned slightly, letting her arms wrap around his shoulders. The situation with Adjoined was pretty fucked up all around.
”I mean, it’s still a pretty big thing to give up your magic for it! But I don’t think it’s any fucking… Heroic shit? Not entirely, and it don’t make you any better than the other Adjoined. And us Adepts ain’t any better than Adjoined just cause we got genetic magic! But that ain’t the point right now, is it?”

She managed to stop herself before she went on a full rant about it, lips pulling up into a rueful smile.
”If you want to embrace it, you should. The leash was never going to work as a permanent solution, was it? Or maybe that was the plan but… It sure don’t seem practical… Especially not when there’s anyone to do it. Cause yeah, I don’t think Mia can deal with the extra stress.”

Leon grimaced. He wasn’t sure how much of the stress was really even Mia’s. She’d been pulling the confidence, but at the same time, what if she was getting something else outside of what she wanted? Outside of her control, even! What if-

”I’ve got this gut feeling like she- Lelou, I mean -is having a hard time too. Maybe worse than either of us are really imagining. I don’t expect it’s going to be easy.” he shrugged in admission.

There was only so much he could do until he made the decision fully. And he wasn’t sure he was ready. What if he just…

”The other option is Severance. If I release the seals all at once, fully, it rejects her from my body like a parachute. There’s a chance it kills me, but a higher chance I live and she disappears into whatever funky realm Apparitions disappear to until they get new bodies. But, I… If we did that, I’d save it until after everything’s said and done… When people don’t need me to be strong like that anymore.” he frowned, thinking about what he was saying before.

And then he started to tear up.

”But, I don’t think I want that to happen… But I’m scared I’m just projecting this feeling, and I don’t know what the fuck to do, Cass…”

”Hey, hey, well we don’t have to think ‘bout that till after everything’s said and done if you ain’t even gonna consider it till then! And, like, well… I suppose there’s no point in tryna guess what anyone else is feeling without asking- especially a fucking Apparition!” Cass tried to comfort him as best as she could.

It wasn’t the easiest thing to do in this situation. She was always a solutions comforter, and there wasn’t an immediate solution which wasn’t ‘take off the leash and ask Lelou.’ Which… Was basically the same as making a decision, and he would’ve just done that if he knew he definitely wanted to!

”It’s like… Any relationship you don’t wanna lose, right? You gotta take the step! Well I guess it’s a bit different cause this is a ghost in your head- but whatever… Admitting to shit always comes with the risk of losing someone. Like, uh… I could’ve turned around and been totally fucking grossed out by the two human one ghost poly suggestion. But you still said!”

He scrunched his face.

”I just have to know for sure… I have to… Either ask Elise, or ask-”

The name choked in the middle of his throat. He didn’t even want to consider it, but she’d have a far clearer picture than anyone.

”-I’ve… Gotta ask Mom. Before it's all too late. I just have to… She’ll read the room and give it to me straight: I’ve played the game with her long enough to know she’ll do that for me. And then she’ll let me live with the consequence of knowledge, as all serpents do.”

At least that was a resolution he could follow. Nodding his head, he tucked his bottom lip slightly, nodding in confirmation.

”I… Did that answer all of your questions about that part?” he asked her, assuming she’d move along if so.

Cass didn’t say anything for a moment, before slowly nodding. She couldn’t exactly tell him to not talk to his own Mother about it, even if she was incredibly fucked in the head. At least he knew that… And she didn’t really have any other questions. At the end of the day, it was his decision. She just wanted to know that he was making it for himself, really…

”There ain’t… Uh, do we need to swap positions? I gotta kneel on the floor when I bring up the stuff I wanna be honest about? That how we doing things?”

Leon giggled and shook his head.

”I only ever want you lower than me for something pleasurable. Everything else, I wanna look up at you. Dad taught us that. Creepy, again, but some shit sticks with you. Now, clue me in. Howl at me.” he gave her calm, almost dreamy eyes with a sly grin.

”Well that kinda don’t work when we’re just walking around cause you’re so much taller- that’s not the point! I get it, it ain’t that! Ugh, you make me wanna howl at you in a completely different way, fuck!” Cass waved a hand before she sidetracked herself from something she wanted to bring up.

It was a bit harder when he was smiling at her like that. She wanted to skip it! Not have to ruin the mood again by bringing up wanting to help Mia with her drug habits! But… She couldn’t help without talking to him. Her conscience wouldn’t allow it.

”Well, me and Mia talked. About what could actually help her with… Y’know. She asked me to scrub that shit outta her system. Course, I don’t wanna encourage it… I said I wanna try helping her sleep with my magic first, y’know! Gotta be a way to make it work! But I, uh, agreed… Cause if she’s gonna use anyway- I assume when it’s Ren it’s also fucking with the body- ain’t it better it’s as safe as can be?”

Leon’s face reactively sunk. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to find some kind of solution; only that Mia made things so fucking difficult in that regard. He hoped she’d have enough self control not to make it Cass’ problem, but suddenly he felt like her good nature was being used without regard… And that rubbed him the wrong way immediately.

”Shit… That’s really not what I wanted to follow up with. Fuck.” he grimaced.

”Nor did I! But I ain’t gonna sit on it either.”

”It’s just… When you’ve seen it so much, it becomes worrisome! I fear her level of honesty, and everything. I don’t love that I don’t trust my little sister, after all: It sucks! But, out of the three of them, she’s the only one without any kind of natural defense to it… Y’know, sometimes I feel extra bad that the girl can’t just do her drugs in peace. But, with Ren-”

Leon shook his head harshly.

”No way. They’re all in agreement at this point, that Ren’s powers ain’t toys like that. Like… If they let her do her thing, I bet it wouldn’t be so bad. Except, Ren can’t always control shit. Puts people in total torpor. Can do it to anyone who lets her in. Hell I have to worry about it. Plus, there’s a serious moral issue when they want to treat her like, y’know, their child. It kind of becomes this- Well, I’m… I’m just talking. But, you seriously… I mean, how’s it make you feel really?” he asked with deep interest.

”Pissed off at all of the adults in you guys’ lives growing up! Like, who the fuck lets three teens get addicted to heroin?! And who thinks its just fucking normal to have a nightmare Eldritch being around your kids? And that I bet is generational!” The immediate response was more about the situation surrounding their drug use, rather than completely answering the question. But it was important to her thought process.

”It makes me feeling conflicted! Cause I wanna help Mia- all of em- but I don’t wanna enable her! I want them all to stop one day… Cause I care about ‘em! But shit ain’t changed around ‘em yet, has it? So they ain’t gonna stop fully till it does. I’m realistic enough to see that. I’m worried if I help she won’t wanna stop even when shit’s better. But I’m more worried if I don’t that she won’t even have a chance if she goes back to it, cause she ain’t gonna be sober enough to drag herself out. So, yeah… real conflicted.”

”Well, you’ve got the spectrum of emotions covered pretty succinctly. I feel as though I should be giving you some kind of insight, but frankly… Well, uh… Who knows, honestly Cass? Like, I could tell you all the bad shit, but what good would that do? None for me, none for her, none for you… So, I encourage you to treat it how you want. That’s… Probably the biggest gift I can give her now, as her brother. Someone who has no prejudgment, and just wants to help. God knows, it’s like pulling teeth with Trisha.” Leon intoned, rubbing Cass gently with both hands.

”I’ll look the other way. And I’ll trust you to come to me if you ever feel it getting out of control. What do you think?”

”That… Sounds like probably the best we can do right now. It ain’t exactly an easy situation, is it?” Cass rubbed the back of her neck with a half smile. She did just want to help… And honestly, she could deal with any consequences that came with it- if they did. Hopefully!

”I don’t plan to keep it up forever… I mean, course I plan to be in Mia’s life no matter what, but I don’t like the feeling of being trapped like that anyway! When shit calms down, and things can be sorted more? Hopefully she’ll be able to get proper help… and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll have to cut it off at some point. But, yeah, I’ll come to you if shit happens! I mean, I think I’m pretty good at being open about shit. Too much, sometimes! Hiding’s way harder for me, anyway.”

Leon nodded, giving her a warm smile.
”You’re stronger and smarter than just about anyone I know. Like I said, if there was a person to trust with something like this fucked up situation, it’d always be you first. Maybe that’s a curse but hey, it’s yours.” he giggled, adding another curse to the pile of problems.

At least that kind of a curse was admired.

”Is there anything you think I can do to alleviate any anxiety now? Well, besides going a few rounds… That’s… Coming.” he cuddled into her, nose sniffing against her neck.

Cass giggled, relaxing fully into him- not that she’d been that tense to begin with. Worried how he might take her agreeing to help his little sister get high without side effects, sure, but not exactly tense.

”I ain’t really that anxious! I’m a solutions gal… When shit’s talked about and there’s a plan in place, I’m all good!” She meant for both the Mia situation and the leash… While neither ‘plan’ was ideal, at least there was something solid for both.

With a grin she craned her head to try to look at him- which was a bit difficult when he was in at her neck.
”Only a few rounds?! I thought we were gonna go all night!”

”Oh, Baby, why not go for endurance rounds? C’mon, let me show you what I mean-”

Recollections: Primal Sinister

---

Interactions: Open
Thursday November 24th, The Hollow Tap

---

In the bustling Hollow Tap bar, where people filled the table and delicious smells filled the air, Vin was doing their best to do their part as a member of the Hollow.

Technically, Vin was on trouble prevention duty. They were one of the best at sniffing it out before it spilled over, with orders to take anyone starting up outside as quietly as possible. Cause of course, it may be Thanksgiving but that didn’t stop people from starting shit. Assholes were always assholes, no matter the day.

But there wasn’t enough trouble to have anyone just stationed as some kinda bouncer- a thing that’d just intimidate the masses coming in anyway. Not that they had anything against all the people here… But talking was never their strong suit. So they were helping out wherever they could, moving food from the kitchen and out back to be served up. Whatever helped, and had the least amount of fucking socialising.

It had been difficult to leave Loni and little Luciana earlier, knowing that by the time they got back Loni would be working. Luci would still be awake, but likely in the company of her other ‘Aunts’... People Vin could tolerate for the two they loved, but it was more difficult without Loni as a buffer.

But that was a worry for later on when they crossed back over just to spend a little bit of time with their family for the day. Sure, they could’ve asked Gideon to let them off today, but they also knew they didn’t have the fucking numbers to be so selfish.

They’d ‘dressed’ up a little- or perhaps dressed the part of community helper slash waiter. A white shirt with only a few blood stains from whatever had happened last Thanksgiving, tucked into black jeans. Their shaggy, shoulder length hair was pulled back into a ponytail so they could carry trays upon trays of sides on their shoulders without worrying about it dipping into the sauce.

It wasn't normal work for them, but at least they looked busy enough that nobody bothered approaching them. They just weren’t a people person! Even if it was the people they wanted to protect. But a few words and they scared ‘em off anyway.

These people were just like Loni and Luciana- and the twins’ mother. Struggling South Siders… The warmth of the room, filled with bodies, only filled Vin with more rage. Because these people shouldn’t only be able to get a nice meal cause Gideon dipped into his own pockets. There should be fucking jobs for them, they should be able to eat at home without freezing to death like the fucking Northerners did!

Right as they put down another few trays filled with food that made their mouth water, one of those very same Northern assholes walked right in. Vin’s eyes narrowed, lips pressing into a tight frown. Beneath their lips their canines grew sharp reactively, nicking the inside of their mouth and filling it with the taste of blood.

They’d only seen the shit about this woman when they got into the Hollow and another gang member showed them. They weren’t exactly online all that often, and hadn’t adjusted to suddenly having internet ‘at home’ now that they half lived at the New Leopold. The comments pissed them right off, but then the name of the bakery… Cozy Bakery.

The same bakery Loni had been at when it was attacked! Where she’d not only been fucking distraught about the attack, but the look the owner had given her afterwards. What happened on Tuesday didn’t fucking help… It was difficult for them to stay on the spot, rather than moving to punch the bitch in the face. They didn’t know why she was here, but she certainly deserved a beating.

They felt a sudden tug on their leg, looking down to see a young boy staring up at them. He’d taken the opportunity of them staying still to shuffle off his seat and grab their attention.

“Miss… Mister?” The child looked visibly confused, before shaking it off and pointing towards Freya. “Whos’at? She famous?”

Vin let out a snort of laughter, shaking their head. They managed to pull the longer, sharper teeth back in to respond. ”She ain’t in the way you’re thinkin’, Kid. She said some real nasty things ‘bout some people here, now she’s actin’ like she ain’t. She don’t belong… But Mr Cross is generous enough to let her stay.”

They did their best to not say shit the kid- who looked to be about seven or eight- shouldn’t hear. Not that it mattered when you lived down here. Vin had heard, seen and done all sorts of shit by that age. But they made sure to talk loud enough that people- and hopefully the Northern bitch herself- could hear. They crouched down a little, closer to the kid’s level.

”Y’know what to do if she tries to talk to ya?”

The kid shook his head. Vin grinned, hand making a fist.

”You punch ‘er. Right in the stomach, if you can reach. Wanna learn how?”

The kid looked at them with wide eyes, before nodding. Vin’s grin only widened when they realised the kid watching had become multiple. They had a little audience, a bunch of kids under ten whose parents weren’t so worried about them running off in here. Not today.

”You got close your fist like this, see. Thumb on the outside, but outta the way… Make sure it’s real tight.” Vin continued, demonstrating. The whole group of kids copied to varying degrees of success. They quickly corrected a few before continuing. ”Good, good. Now, it ain’t just her you gotta punch. Anyone from the North comes down here ‘n looks at you funny? Throw one, and run. It ain’t illegal cause you ain’t adults. Got it?”

There was resounding agreement from the children in various little voices. Vin smiled proudly, glad the next generation would happily take up arms against the Northern oppression.

Recollections: Primal Sinister

& Kiki Motta

_{with @AtomicEmperor}

Vin & Loni’s Apartment, Evergreen Apartments, Westwood “Junglelands”

Loni didn't have any headphones on her, but she did have a handy Green spell that let her completely dampen her own sense of hearing. One of the first she'd developed to help her sleep through the screaming matches their old neighbours used to get into, and other disturbing sounds in the night she never quite got used to. It was helpful here, letting her gather what few things she had here- mostly changes of clothes- without hearing anything.

She still went outside to wait, watching the remnant leaves sway in the breeze. It had been so pretty when they first got together…

When Kiki was done and came out, Loni didn't ask what had been done- and Kiki didn't say. Loni knew he was probably dead… but she didn't need to hear about it.

It was a fair walk to the Evergreen Apartments, one that Loni insisted they take rather than calling a cab. It was one place where she was frugal… But it only broke the bank because of how much she spent on other non necessities. At this time of day the walk wasn't exactly dangerous, but it was still nice to have someone a bit more intimidating at her side. Though she'd grown used to just not feeling safe every time she walked home from work.

Inside the Apartment Complex itself, after Loni just opened the front door without even needing to pull out her key. Totally secure. She remained cheery the whole walk up six flights of stairs to the top floor, the out of order sign on the elevator almost taunting the higher up they got. She did pause when they reached the metal door to the hallway her apartment was on. Normally it was left wedged open, because it was just as broken as everything else in this place. But no…

It had a large dent in the centre and had completely crumpled in on itself. It could barely be called a door anymore. A shell of itself, literally. She hadn't actually noticed on her way in earlier, with a demanding toddler and time constraints. When… had that happened?

Loni gestured to it with a slight laugh, turning her head towards Kiki.
"I bet Vin did that when they was pissed at somethin'! Maybe cause I asked ‘em to move into Leopold with me…"

”I hope not… She’s prickly, but getting that pissed over a simple request would tell me there’s a lot wrong there.” Kiki projected, following Loni quietly through the rundown complex.

In truth, she’d seen plenty of shitholes. Something that the people from the South probably weren’t aware of was the sparsely populated nature of some of the oldest apartment buildings. The oldest stuff, with locked in rents that elderly people still lived in, tended to look something like this. Only, it wasn’t so much malice as it was general disinterest in maintenance and repair on the part of the Landlord. Cheaper to let them crumble into the ground, so you could sell the valuable vacant lot that major companies were chomping at the bit to develop.

The “Landlord” of the Forth Ward happened to be Moriah. Ergo, with a desire to have an actual population, she’d spent quite a bit of pocket money bringing those old buildings up to snuff. Because it was all for tithe-materia, Culla was supposedly willing and able to subsidize the rents, but the mental point had been: Before she was in charge, Tuscania was a shithole too. And she remembered spending plenty of time smoking pot and breaking windows in the old factories.

And the apartment buildings, where there simply were no children left to utilize the old playgrounds. Parents didn’t want their kids in such dangerous hovels. She remembered Christina Tutti, and the time her Father came around in his Italian supercar to look for her. It was glorious when he took a single pot-hole at a slightly-too-high speed, and the front fender bounced and snapped off the front on one side. She remembered laughing at the way the carbon fiber panel jiggled, and managed to grin even as she passed by the ruined door.

Loni smiled back, glad that Kiki didn't seem to be judging the place too hard. It had mostly been a joke about the door, after all. Sure, it was probably Vin, but it was way more like it happened just because someone closed the door and they had to smash it in to get home.

Soundproofing within the hall was pretty shit. Just a few steps along and they could hear the screaming baby from 603. Loni barely reacted, so used to it at this point that she breezed right path. All the way along to the other end, where the apartments got slightly bigger. While this corridor itself was where they'd grown up, the current apartment wasn't. They'd moved a few doors down after Loni moved back in, because Vin refused to let her have a child in an already cramped one bedroom apartment.

Loni hadn't thought it was so bad. Their Mama never had an issue with two children in there… but this one was nicer. They both had a room!

The lack of soundproofing also allowed them to hear much more fun sounds as Loni pulled out her keys. Loud squealing and what sounded like mock roars, along with nonsensical babble in the typical Luci style.

”Oh no, you got me! Princess Luci wins again!”

Loni pushed open the door to reveal an apartment in a much better state than the rest of the building. A single main room, going from a rug covered living room area to kitchen with a small table. Just two seats and a high chair. The couch was worn but comfortable looking, facing the corner of the room where there was an old box television hooked up to a VHS player. Shelving units had a mix of video boxes, books (mostly about animals, bugs, or for children) and pictures. It was messy, with toys strewn all about the place, but seemed clean. There were three doors off it, with two closed and the one to the bathroom slightly ajar.

Vin was lying on their back near the couch, knees bent and arms flopped back like a wounded animal. A little body sat triumphantly on their stomach, letting out gleeful cries while patting their face. As the door opened both turned to look. Vin's already soft expression softened further as they looked at Loni. It was in these moments it was easier to mistake the two- when all the normal viciousness they held was stripped away.

“Mama!” Luci rolled off Vin, pushing herself to her feet and sprinting towards Loni. Loni crouched down to scoop her up, stepping further in while spinning a giggling Luci around.

"My beautiful baby! You been good for your Tio? Showin' ‘em who's boss, huh?" Loni hugged her daughter close with a bright smile.

Luci continued to giggle before spotting the other person who'd come in with her Mama, wriggling with chubby hands outstretched towards Kiki.
“Ahn ee!”

Vin rolled from lying down into a squat position, before standing fully. They weren't dressed in much- just a loose tank top and boxers. Their hair was messy from play tussling with Luci, sticking up all over the place as it tended to do with the slightly more choppy style they had it in. Still similar enough to Loni's that the two could easily pretend to be the other, at least…

”You got rid of him?” They asked Loni simply.

"I- Guess I did!" Loni squeaked out, knowing Vin didn't mean it literally… But that was exactly what had happened! Technically she hadn't even had a chance to break up with him.

”Good.” Their lips pulled up into a wider grin, teeth slightly sharp, and they finally looked past their beloved sister to Kiki. They were in a good enough mood thanks to a morning with Luci and Loni getting rid of another shitty man in her life that they didn't even mind the intruder for once. There were some mixed feelings about her presence- they assumed Kiki had been with Loni when she broke up with that asshole teacher. On one hand they were glad someone was there, on the other… wished it had been them. Then they could've broken his legs if he said any shit.

”Kiki… I woulda got dressed if Lon said you'd be comin' round. You were with her for the breakup?” They ran a hand through their hair. There was always a visible change when they talked to anyone that wasn't Loni and Luci, the rare softness completely hidden behind a more savage grin.
”Never liked the fuckin' asshole… Had it out for me in school-”

”All’ve the teachers did if you think 'bout it like that! You got into fights and skipped all the time!”

Vin waved that off with a slight laugh.
”You skipped too, Lon… This guy had a real thing, he got me suspended a bunch’ve times when normally they didn't care! Fucking- if only it was fucking illegal to sleep with a sixteen year old, I woulda beaten him up then.”

Loni laughed awkwardly, hugging Luci close even as she squirmed and tried to get back down to the ground to have the freedom to run anywhere.

Kiki didn't think much of the apartment. It looked somewhat like one of the abandoned apartments that Milli and Eagon had shuffled stolen furniture into and called a “safehouse” during the Cataclysm. There wasn't any particular connection to whether or not the conditions were conducive for Luci's safety or growth, since unlike Moriah, she didn't really think there was anything wrong. Where Moriah may have, for the hundredth time of walking in and sighing, continued to plead with her to move North, Kiki could only give Luci the focus she deserved.

Excitedly, she stuck her face right in range of both the little hands, puffing her cheeks with air while doing her absolute best to smile at the same time. While dealing with having her face pressed like a grape, she was taking in what the siblings were saying with rapt confusion. Loni… Sure, it made sense she didn't know. But-

”Y'know I should've guessed neither of you really got it, but… Honestly, Vin, I thought she was just hiding it from you. Like… We live in Virginia, babes… Law's eighteen! Like, federal and state! Trust me, I did this essay in school, ‘bout Virginia lawmakers try'na sneak in some reduced age of consent law into a state bill concerning environmental protection efforts… Like… I kinda let it go earlier, Lon, but shit dude. I guess I should've come and got you, Vin… I'm so sorry…”

There was an immediate tension in the air, though Vin tried to keep it down for fear of alerting Luci. Though, she associated their tiger form with fun play time, which always helped when they were set off by things like this. Their grin turned into more of a snarl, nails lengthening minutely.

”If I’d know, I would’ve done somethin’ bout it a long fuckin’ time ago.” Vin’s hands curled into fists so they didn’t cut themselves, turning to look at Loni with an expectant eyebrow raise. If they’d know that was the case legally, they would’ve gutted the guy earlier. Should’ve done it when they were sixteen anyway, legal or not. But teen Vin didn’t have the protection of the biggest gang behind them then, and killing a teacher would’ve landed them in jail.

Then where would Loni be now?

"Well, Mama said sixteen was alright! It ain’t like we knew!" Loni stared at Kiki with wide eyes, once again feeling like the rug was pulled out from under them. Another thing she hadn’t known. She tried her best not to panic again, glad that Luci was distracted squishing Kiki’s cheeks for now.
"I- I slept with a lotta people as a teen! Mama knew and said it was alright so long as we consented."

”Well, Mama was wrong bout a lotta things.” Vin’s brow furrowed. While they didn’t have the same blind faith in their deceased Mother- as much as they loved her just as fiercely- they hadn’t exactly questioned that. Or had much knowledge of laws in the first place, beyond the basics. Had broken plenty… It was only over the past few years where they learned a lot of shit wasn’t okay from Gideon.

”That fuckin’ bastard- whaddya mean you’re sorry, Kiki? You didn’t hit the fucker hard enough- wait. You hurt him so much there ain’t gonna be any fight left?!” Or killed him. They didn’t say that bit out loud. They tried to hide that they’d killed a good amount of Loni’s exes. Sure, she knew they got violent and just about handled that… But killing? It would only be worse if she knew that it wasn’t just Vin doing it, but her boss slash coven leader too.

”I would’ve held him until you were around for sentencing. With your testimony, it would have been your right to carry it out… Now, uh… Well, can you get us in touch with the Hollow? By the Cullan Proclamation, we owe your organization a debt, I’m afraid.”

She was mostly sorry that Vin would have to cursorily deal with Twin Hill dealings. It wasn’t in their nature, as far as Kiki understood, to be participatory in their sister’s magical life. They’d gone down separate paths, and both managed to fit squarely into a position among two of the most esteemed Covens in Cloverfield. And, frankly, their relationship with Momo wasn’t one that she wanted to share with Vin; especially not with her eyes dead-set on Loni with all the romance of a new puppy.

”But, based on, uh… On, y’know, Loni’s position within our organization, it’s not really something I could avoid. If I hadn’t passed the sentence, well… Well, moreso, I’m in a bit of hot water at home! So, I’m kinda doin’ things on Momo’s good graces… Which means doin’ things by the book, see? If that hadn’t been the case, I’d have been more inclined to follow Loni’s wishes in the moment, and then maybe uh… Well, you and Momo would’ve maybe seen one another anyway?”

This was, of course, the first ex of Loni’s that Kiki was responsible for killing. She’d killed others; mostly during the Cataclysm. Imagine, people still tried to loot the places that weren’t destroyed, as if that was a smart idea. In times of war, Cullans brook no insult and generally give no quarter; thus, even the Blinds who knew no better were targets. Well, more like food.
But, Kiki’s point landed squarely on the fact that, after just about every breakup there’d been over the last few years, if Loni didn’t get to them in time, they just disappeared. Momo had admitted that she was keeping them in the way that all Matriarchs knew how; through their genes. DNA pulled from dead bodies were stored away for study and examination. Even the corpses of Vin’s kills were pulled whenever they could be, all for a singular purpose.

Kiki’s job was to pull the emotional and physical memory from those samples, utilizing it to figure out what it was that Loni saw in each man… Because there had to be something. Only, it was hard to lock down a pattern, or any kind of consistent ideal which she seemed overly attracted to. It was a puzzle for the ages, and probably went a long way in explaining Kiki’s bordering obsession.
Loni was her job. Knowing her. Being close. But the desire to be the one wasn’t what anyone intended.

”Probably… You saved me the hassle, really, I ain't fond of dealin' with your boss.” Vin snorted. It was an understatement, really. Sure, there was a healthy amount of respect between the two. Especially when they so often met with the same goal in mind… and it gave Vin some comfort to know if they died there'd be someone to still protect Loni.

But that was also part of the problem. Loni didn't need them anymore. It was like they were being replaced…
”It’s fine. If the fuckers dead, the fuckers dead, I ain't gonna fuss about how it happened. The Hollow ain't either… But if you really gotta, I can get you in touch. You want the boss, or you good with one of his right hand men?”

Technically, Vin was one of those. Moriah knew that, Kiki probably knew that. Loni didn't. As far as she was aware, Vin was cursorily part of the Hollow- they worked at the Hollow Tap, and got some benefits because of that. Protection and the like without being a full fledged gang member. Lies they told her, obviously…

"What kinda debt do we owe ‘em?" Loni was a little confused by that, and couldn't help but ask. She'd crouched down now to let Luci go, the little girl having gotten bored of squishing Kiki's cheeks. Free to run around, she was doing so, running back over to Vin to hit their legs, before running over to Loni again. Like a human yo-yo.

"Cause it was in Hollow territory?"

”No, ‘cuz you’re their family. Usually, things don’t get weird like this, but occasional blood relations put the Whispering Flesh at odds with other entities due some kind of deference of respect. Adrien wronged you, but he also wronged Vin, see? Except, Vin had priority, because she had also apparently experienced personal offence at his hands. Ergo, Vin’s boss would need to be the one presenting the perceived tithe due, so long as it were in line with all parties affected; meaning, both of you.”

It was a lot of legal jargon. She paused for a moment, clearing her throat.

”Plainly? You figure out what you want, Vin. Loni knows plenty to be able to tell you what sounds reasonable and what don’t. You already said: You don’t really give a shit, save it’s been handled. If you want the debt cleared without consideration, precedent says you just need to submit a written confirmation waiving your right to the Prosecution process. A text, basically, saying ‘Hey, no hard feelings: Adrien Evans isn’t worth any kind of debt, and the Twin Hill Coven ain’t responsible for payin’ reparations in regards to his Prosecution. Make enough sense?” Kiki asked, doing her best to keep things straight forward as possible.

It was good that she explained it in more simple terms, because the legal jargon went completely over the twins' heads. While Vin was much more street smart than Loni, they struggled just as much academically… if not more. Loni had at least tried. Vin was fairly certain if the system hadn't been so rigged against her she would've found a niche she loved enough to really study.

They nodded slowly in understanding to the less fucking confusing explanation.
”It does. A text to… Moriah? Or you got one of those fancy organisation numbers that can be texted?”

They had Moriah's number- mainly after a few times turning up at the same exes house. It was purely practical, and for the purposes of keeping Loni safe. But they already knew what they wanted as ‘reparations’, and assumed it was reasonable enough. The next ex was theirs to kill, no Twin Hill intervention… it was only fair.

"No askin' for tons of money over it!" Loni exclaimed jokingly, shuffling behind Luci in a squat position as her daughter made way for Vin again.

”What, like your boss ain't got lots to spare?” Vin snorted, shaking their head.
”I’ll save that for you, she's desperate to throw her money at you, y’know.”

Loni giggled a little bit. She was relatively quick to get over the second bombshell dropped on her over this relationship. Sure, what she'd seen thanks to the Recollection still lingered. It was hard to just move past that. But she didn't want to dwell in the moment… not when she was surrounded by so many people she loved!

"Y’hear that, Mijita? Vin thinks we're spoiled!" Loni gasped.

Luci looked up at Vin with wide eyes, not understanding at all what Loni said. But her little face scrunched up into what was an imitation of sternness and she patted Vin's leg, babbling away what was probably meant to be a lecture only she could understand.

”Whoa, calm down, lil Miss… I ain't sayin' that. You don't want me sayin' anythin' your Mama doesn't like, huh?” They crouched down to be at Luci's level, glancing past her for a moment to look at Kiki.
”I’ll send the text soon as this menace ain't tryna tell me off.”

Kiki stared down at Luci with a slightly confused look. She was always curious as to what was going on in the little girl’s head. She wasn’t an infant, and had never bothered crawling into an infant’s mind. But, this one in particular always seemed so with it. Even if her grasp of speech wasn’t amazing, her comprehension seemed accelerated in some fashion. Like she knew everything she was saying, and it was just up to the observer to translate.

”Uhhh… Just, y’know, text the Boss. Your word’s enough; just don’t expect any grand text back. She ain’t much of a texter.”

She was at least aware of Momo’s personal number being available. It was for everyone, after all. Personal didn’t translate to private in the wide branches of the Whispering Flesh. Private meant private, and Momo didn’t text privately. Digital communication wasn’t private, after all.

Mirroring Vin, Kiki squatted down behind Luci, getting to roughly the same level and letting the massive coat covering her flare outward like a big dress. She grinned, reaching forward and tapping Luci on the back of the shoulder.

”Excuse me, Ma’am? Are you looking for assistance in litigation? I hear you’ve got quite the slander case on your hands. Though, the office is aware that, unfortunately, the truth isn’t exactly slanderous to tell. It’s really a hollow case, and council suggests a change of course.” she said plainly to the little girl, knowing from all the books that the best thing she could do to help Luci was speak to her like a human.

Luci turned her body so that she was looking at both Kiki and Vin, folding her arms and scrunching the front of her navy dungarees against her chest.
“Ahba oo eh ie! Tee-oh ay Mama ea bah bah ea!”

Vin bit their lip to hold back a laugh as Luci spoke so sternly, when the words coming out of her mouth made absolutely no sense at all. Loni didn’t bother holding back a giggle watching her daughter at the two people squatting around her, earning her a little pout from Luci. She was, after all, defending her Mama right now!

”You’re bringin’ that back up, huh? What I said ‘bout your Mama earlier?” Vin guessed, folding their arms to mimic Luci’s posture.

"What did you say about me?" Loni asked, shifting to behind Vin, hand moving forward to gently shove their head with assumption it had been something mean.

”Just that I bet Luci’d beat me in a fight where you couldn’t.”

“Ohn!” Luci shook her head, before letting out another long rant of not-words.

”Oh, that’s hearsay, Luci! It means, there’s no physical or corroborative evidence to suggest that the statement’s got any kind of truth!”

Kiki giggled, sliding down onto the floor and out of the jacket in a single motion, like a human noodle. She wound up with her head next to Luci’s foot, looking up at her like she was a talking head rather than a whole woman.

”In other words?-” she narrowed her eyes conspiratorially at Vin, then at the little girl again.
”-Tio’s a big fat liiiiiiiarrrrrrr!”

“Eye-ah!” Luci threw her hands up in the air in agreement with a loud laugh. Her smile widened, beaming up at Vin with a hint of smugness. She wasn’t at all bothered by Kiki’s unnatural shifts,

”Aw c’mon, I already got enough people gangin’ up on me… You gotta stop bringin’ more over.” Vin held up their hands with a slight laugh, glancing at Loni. It all seemed good natured, though. They were always the least prickly they could be around Loni and Luci. Especially in their own home.

"Gotta stop lyin’, then. Y’know I can beat you in a fight! I always did as kids!" Loni giggled.

”Cause I let ya.” Vin shook their head. But there was some truth to it- they really could never win when it came to Loni, because she’d always be the priority. They’d lose at everything if it made her happy.

"Nah, that’s a lie too. There ain’t any… Physical or corroborative evidence! Right, Kiki?" Loni snickered, as she moved towards the back of the room, where their little kitchen was.
"You have lunch yet?"

”Nah, was gonna make omelettes for you gettin’ back. Shoulda known you wouldn’t warn me.”

“Ohm!” Luci bounced up and down in excitement, mind moving onto other things now that justice had been served.
“Ohm, ee!”

"You love omelettes, don’t you, Baby?" Loni smiled softly at Luci, the smile not fading as her gaze moved to Kiki.
"You wanna stay to eat? Can you?"

Kiki was so ready to blurt out what she was thinking; how she knew Momo didn’t want to keep her away. There was only one kind of code for that feeling that she could get away with expressing.

”I was told specifically that my task until further notice is to be your detail. We call it lo scudo a sinistra.-” she said with a signature Cullan inflection that made the expression just a little sexier than it was. As she spoke, she let her right arm come up over her left arm like she was brushing it across a flat surface.
”-The shield on the left. Turning any blade meant for our beloved; who I may add was very strong earlier. She deserves some extra love in those omelettes, Vin. Can I help? Do you guys want any special ingredients? I’ve got a couple of Chess’ spells rolling around, I think I can scrounge up whatever we don’t have!”

”She was? Well, I ain't gonna argue with that.” Vin grinned again, moving towards the kitchen. As they went past Loni they wrapped an arm around her, hugging her tightly for a brief moment. Then, in signature annoying sibling fashion, messed up her hair as they stepped away.

”We ain't got any meat, that somethin' you can make? Like sausages or bacon or some shit?” As they asked, Vin was pulling out everything else they needed. Eggs, cheese, then a good selection of vegetables- peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and chillis.

"Wait, wait, so you're gonna be… around more?! I thought you were gonna be runnin' errands for Momo all the time and I'd hardly see you?" Loni interrupted the mundane food talk to stare at Kiki with wide, excited eyes.

”I think you’re conflating my current assignment with some kind of permanence. You know as well as I do that as soon as you’re across the border in the North, there’s enough Twin Hill posts that you don’t need a detail.”

Bacon… Kiki knew flesh manifestation, sure. But, bacon specifically? What fucking part of the pig was that again? Somewhere along the back? What were the qualities of bacon, really? Dense fat marbling, usually forming a cap along the top while still marbling the meat itself. Bacon shrunk because when it cooked, its fat rendered from the flesh, right? So, it had to-

”I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen uncooked raw bacon. In my life…” she admitted finally, pulling out her phone and bumping off the shitty South Side tower signal that was available.

Pretty quickly, she was looking at pictures of slabs of bacon. Whole pig backs, stripped down to the bone for their delicious fatty bacon. Now, her faint inherent memory pulled from Chessa’s culinary experience was coming back to her, and she grinned.

”Oh! Oh, yeah, I can do some fuckin’ ham and bacon I think. You have any potatoes?” she asked with a grin forming on her face.
”Or, alternatively, any neighbors you don’t like?”

”Oh, plenty.” Vin grinned.

"No way, we ain’t turning the neighbours into bacon!" Loni shook her head.

“Bay-oh?” Luci initiated, tilting her little head. Then she turned around and toddled away, plopping her ass in the middle of the rug covered living room and grabbing at some of her toys.

Vin just chuckled as they crouched down to open up one of the lower cabinets, pulling out a good amount of potatoes and setting them on the counter.
”That enough?”

Then they were pulling out a knife to start chopping up the other vegetables with incredible efficiency.
”So… You’re only protectin’ Lon cause she’s in the South? Y’can leave after you make us some bacon, then, since I ain’t lettin’ her outta my sight till we get back to that fuckin’ fancy building of yours.”

"Vin! That ain’t happenin’, I invited Kiki round cause I wanted her round not for-"

”I’m joking.” Vin turned their head around to smile at Loni, the only sign it had been a joke a glint in their eyes. If Loni couldn’t tell, who else would be able to? It was often difficult with them… Most of their jokes said in such a deadpan, serious manner. Always things they’d say seriously, too, in the wrong mood.

"Good." Loni nodded with a light huff. Now that they could see Vin’s face they could tell it was an actual joke… If only that understanding worked when they were turned away! Sure, there were some things the two just intrinsically understood about each other, but this often went over her head.

She moved to sit with her daughter, knowing Vin wouldn’t let her near the kitchen when they were the one cooking. As she started to mess around with Luciana’s toys, she had a though.
"Are the posts on higher alert then or somethin’? Cause… I was in the North when I got attacked."

”They definitely are now… But, I wouldn’t blame you for kickin’ me out either Vin.” Kiki half-joked back, sticking her tongue out as she popped the first potato into her mouth wholesale.

While Gourmation may’ve been outside her full capability, she was familiar enough with the Cullan process of gastronomic conversion to pull this off. She made sure to close her mouth tight and turn away before letting her teeth shred the potato within like a biomechanical mulcher. Then two, then three-

”Uh… Don’t let Luci see this? And, don’t think about it too hard. Gimmie a plate.”

Loni’s eyes widened slightly, one hand moving to Luci to make sure to turn her away from Kiki while distracting her with a chunky plastic lion toy. How… How bad was turning potatoes into meat?!

Vin grabbed a plate and handed it to Kiki, watching with actual interest. Unlike Loni, the thought of it being a bit of a gross process just made it exciting for them.

Receiving a plate, Kiki did her best to silently slide a roughly shaped pound block of bacon out of her throat. As it landed on the plate, it tilted and flopped down, completely unsliced and smelling fresh like it came from a vacuum sealed package. It was even dry which one may not expect. But, the spell caused her saliva ducts to halt production in expectation of production… Made for a dry throat, but an uncontaminated product on the other side.

”Oh holy shit… Can… Water?”

She took two wobbling steps toward the sink before stuffing her mouth up to the faucet and turning it on.

”I wouldn’t-” Vin tried to warn, but it was too late and Kiki was already drinking directly out of the tap. Fucking priveleged North Sider… Probably wouldn’t kill her with the Green Lux, at least. As she guzzled the probably grim tasting water, Vin went to their small fridge and pulled out a jug with a filter on it.

”Pipes have been fucked since the cataclysm. They fixed ‘em enough to get water, but it ain’t the kinda shit I’d wanna put in my body.”

Shrugging, they took the plate with the block of bacon and got to work slicing it. It was thrown straight into a pan as they moved back to the vegetables.

"It ain’t that bad. You remember when the factories were spillin’ somethin’ in, and the water started comin’ out brown?" Loni piped up, not looking up from playing with plastic animals with Luci.

”Yeah, cause you got real sick from it. Fuckin’ hell, this is why-”

"Don’t go on a rant again, please?"

Vin rolled their eyes.
”What, just cause your friend’s from the North don’t mean she won’t understand? She ain’t seem like one of the bad ones.”

What was sickness to even a typical adept, the child of a Matriarch learned to repurpose entirely. Any virus or microbes infecting the water were simply filtered like any other source of biological material, sterilized and consumed in the raw by the incredibly iron gut they’d all been given. Gifts from beyond, unnatural improvements implanted long ago without consideration of permission…

Not that any of them would’ve said no had they been able to understand. Kiki didn’t particularly remember any of her Mother’s procedures particularly affecting her negatively, and she was only left with positives. Though, what she was being left with was a sense of painful retribution. Revenge. A need to set things right. They were absolutely right: The water supply, whether due to the poor pipe repair or something worse, was totally infested with bacteria of all kinds. It was totally gnarly stuff!

Yet, she waved Loni off from the pitcher. She wasn’t worried, just needed volume. Finally, she pulled away after shutting the faucet off.

”Oh, Deer in the fucking woods! That’s- I just swallowed an entire universe worth of microbes! What the fuck is going on with the- Like, the building doesn’t have a filtration system? Holy shit!”

”Nah, it don’t.” Vin answered. Not for lack of trying from residents and certain local groups. But there was only so much influence Gideon could wield against building owners who didn’t give a fuck, living somewhere he couldn’t touch them with laws that protected them. The fact anything worked at all was thanks to him.

He’d gotten the building’s heating fixed so people wouldn’t freeze come winter, and even provided the filter jug Vin had pulled out. Sure, they could afford that stuff themselves, but most couldn’t.

”It used to, but it got fucked cause’ve all the acid. And the owner’s would rather the place fell down than waste any of their precious money. Y’know, rents gone up on most of the apartments too? Recouping fuckin’ losses or some bullshit!”

"Ours ain’t gone up?" Loni commented, tilting her head with a little confusion.

”Why d’you think it ain’t? Cause I ain’t let ‘em. But it would’ve… And the fuckers that own this place won’t even sell! Cause it ain’t as profitable as it would be if they kicked us all out and sold the land to some fuckin’ Northern asshole wantin’ to expand. They’d push us even further South if they could.”

Kiki frowned, scratching her head.

”Would… If… I mean, hey, listen, with everything that’s been happenin’, maybe somethin’ could get worked out? Like, what if I could square somethin’ up where Lon’ could come home, and we could start actually taking care of some of these neighborhoods down here?” she asked very simply, having a vague idea of what she could do.

The secret to wealth was in trust and credit, not liquid currency or hoards of physical wealth. Even in Culla, credit was granted based on Tithe provided only as a means of projecting Tithe expectancy. As it stood, Culla had plenty of outside resources generating physical wealth, and kept their own banks for the purpose of international funding to their various branches outside the motherland.

She presumed there was an argument to be made in favor of picking up the tab on the building if Gideon Cross allowed Twin Hill presence in the South. As it stood now, their only agent was partial, and certainly unreliable.

”Y’know Deciduous? The apartments on the other side of the Jungle down the Bull? Apparently my Brother’s armin’ the lady over there with some kind of case, thinkin’ Moriah’ll be able to move our people in there. But, I figure, if we do it without Gideon knowin’, that’ll just cause more animosity than good, right? So… Let’s try and cut a deal here instead!”

Vin furrowed their brow a bit. They weren’t exactly the best person to ask about diplomatic group relationships. Sure, Gideon brought them along to meetings. Keep telling them they needed to learn and shit. But they weren’t good at it. They were much better at just beating people up who wronged them.

”Deciduous is a real shithole… Technically outta the Hollow’s influence. Kinda a dead zone. I ain’t really the guy to ask ‘bout this… But I don’t imagine he’d be thrilled about it.” Vin rubbed the back of their neck, shaking hair out of their face as they threw the cut vegetables in with the sizzling bacon.

”But he ain’t against workin’ with groups that actually care ‘bout the South. If you guys got the influence to buy the place and make shit better for us? Yeah, he’ll be down to cut a deal, I bet. I can organise somethin’. He’ll wanna actually talk to Moriah, I bet.”

"I thought you didn’t like North influence down here?" Loni asked softly, tilting her head. She struggled to keep up with exactly what Vin’s thoughts were. It was simplest at just hating the North, and the complexities went over her head.

”I don’t. But I ain’t gonna push away shit that could help down here cause of it. Some fuckin’ fixin’ would help us way more than it would the North.”

”Technically Mo’s under a contract sayin’ she can’t legally own property down here. We’ll have to set things up real slick so the city departments keep their fat money honking noses out of it. But, honestly, I’d push for Elay to keep things under control here like he was planning with the other place. He needs more stuff to do…” Kiki pondered quietly, thinking about her brother while she quietly gripped into the oversized cuffs.

”But I think that’ll be a talk we all have at a later date. Until then, uh… Y’know, I’m alright. Ma blessed us all with iron guts, so if anything, the little bugs in the water is just extra protein. Lookin’ good, Vin, that shit smells bomb already.” she grinned.

Vin nodded. It was all shit on their end to sort out, anyway. They’d set up a meeting with Gideon- probably have to be there- but otherwise it wasn’t the kind of shit they had to think about.

”Wait till you try it. I got a speciality- nice smellin’, shit tasting.” They laughed, tilting the vegetables and bacon out of the pan onto a plate to wait as they cracked the first eggs in.

"They’re just being modest! Vin’s a pretty good cook… We split it, but it always looks like a bomb site after I’m done!" Loni added brightly. They could both cook on roughly the same level, just with different things they tended to make… There hadn’t really been a choice as their Mama got more and more sick. Even before then, she was out for work so often they had to learn to fend for themselves.

”It’s impressive how fuckin’ clumsy you are in the kitchen, Lon, considerin’ you dance and shit. I assume you ain’t fallin’ off the pole and shit?” Vin laughed lightly, throwing cheese, vegetables and bacon into the sizzling first omelete.

"It ain’t the same!" Loni wailed.
"Right, Kiki? It’s totally normal to be great at dancing but make a mess while tryna cook, right?!"

”Goddamn the kitchen, you should see her makeup and wardrobe at work. I have no clue how she can even find two matching heels.” Kiki giggled, snagging a piece of her own bacon off the plate and crunching on it.

”Ohhhh… Oh god…-” she paused, swallowing the bacon and staring up at the ceiling.
”-Deer? If you can hear me, please strip the knowledge of how to make bacon from my brain. My Lady Most High, wherever the smokey maple flavor comes from, I can only imagine it's a blessing of yours.” she openly prayed to her Ancient as she came to terms with the fact that she managed to make delicious ingredients without too much fuss.

She cleared her throat and shook her head, then grabbed another piece and started making way toward Luci.

”Lucianaaaaa… Come here mamacita, try a piece of tocino! Auntie made it herself!” she giggled, holding out the little piece of bacon for her as she squatted down into a cross-legged position on the floor.

"Heyyyy, it ain’t that bad at work!" Loni whined with a playful pout.

”I seen your room here… I can only imagine how bad it is when you gotta actually rush to get ready.” Vin laughed.

“Toh? Bah!” Luci dropped the toy dinosaur she’d been slamming against the lion Loni was holding, turing around and wriggling on her bum towards Kiki. Her eyes lit up excitedly as she smelt the bacon, leaning in to eat it right out of Kiki’s hand with a giggle. What followed were squeals of delight.

”Here, Lon, you have the first one.” Vin flipped the omelette out of the pan and onto a plate, before getting right to making another.

Loni nodded. She’d split it with Luciana anyway, so she leaned over to pick up the little girl.

“No!” Luci immediately started protesting, kicking her legs about.

"C’mon, Mijita… We gotta eat at the table."

“No! No, Ahn ee!”

"Aunt Kiki will sit at the table with us, won’t she?"

Kiki didn't hesitate, standing back up and holding onto the little girl's hands.

”Momma's right, Lil’ Bug. C'mon, come sit and eat. Auntie's right here, so’s Tio. And mama's gonna get you something delicious, right? Tio Vin made it with extra love!”

As they sat, Kiki was already cutting up the food into Loni-sized pieces, and then Luci-sized pieces.

”You just hold her, Babe… Let me feed you. It's always easier when you have both hands on her.” Kiki grinned, letting the fork pierce a Loni piece and holding it up to her.

Loni couldn’t exactly argue with that, since it was true. Luci was a messy eater and tended to flail her arms while wriggling all over the place. More often than not she tried to feed herself before getting the food everywhere.

"Thanks, Kiki! You’re the best!" Loni smiled back, quite happily leaning forward to eat the piece of omelette that Kiki offered her.

“Me! Me!” Luci started kicking her legs, arms waving towards Kiki with grasping hands.

"You gotta say please, Mijita." Loni gently chided.

"Me, ee!"

Vin watched the scene with a tiny, niggling feeling that something was… Off. Not off, per say, but there was some kind of disconnect. It looked incredibly domestic… What kind of friend fed a friend? Then again, those Twin Hill folks were real weird and Loni wasn’t exactly someone who cared.

”Here.” They slid another plated omelette onto the table.
”Loni’ll probably eat two, assumin’ she used magic today.”

Loni went to protest that she wouldn’t eat that much, pausing with her mouth open. She had flown over at a point where there weren’t many eyes on the river… Cause it was easier and faster. Her appetite was always bigger when she’d transformed at all.

”Knew it. You gotta stop feelin’ bad about eatin’ so much sometimes. Think ‘bout what’s gonna happen when Lu kindles… She’ll be the same.”

”One hundred percent correct. Don't forget how many more calories Green magic forces the human body to burn! I get having a girl dinner now and then, but eventually you'll fuckin’ fade away, Girlie! And on stage, probably!”

Kiki's concern was obviously not unfounded, of course. She'd seen Loni's weight fluctuate before; moreso in the old days. She was much improved from the Cataclysm, though back then it generally made sense for her to assume that hunger was necessary. Now, it was just a stubborn habit.

It was hard to beat her pre-shift routine. Usually it consisted of whoever was attending practically forcing some kind of granola bar or pop tart down Loni's gullet. Moriah wasn't apt to play around about it: If she said someone needed to eat before their shift, there was usually a reason. Loni was just so scatterbrained sometimes that, at least Kiki presumed, she just genuinely spaced out. It's not like she was ever reluctant…

”We can always get more. So, eat! Here-” she paused, cutting a piece off both omelettes and holding up two forks. One to Loni, and the other with a much smaller piece to Luci.
”-Mama and Luci, om nom nom!” she grinned fully, taking in every bit of joy in the moment.

“Ommm!” Luci repeated as she took her piece, chewing it loudly.

Loni saved her argument for after taking another piece.
"That ain’t always true! Sometimes we can’t-"

“Mama, om!” Luci interrupted, demandingly kicking her fluffy socked feet against Loni’s legs.

"What, I gotta say it too?"

Luci nodded, babbling away again.

"Ommm." Loni echoed, causing Luci to grin brightly and giggle.

”Don’t pretend it’s all cause’ve money, Lon.” Vin brandished the spatula towards her. They were now making what seemed to be a monster omelette, as thick as the pan with a ton of fillings. How they liked it, compared to Loni’s preference of a normal sized one.

”You forget, or you look in the mirror and think you’ve gained weight when you ain’t. Sure, growin’ up it was cause’ve money, but we ain’t lackin’ in that now. Hell, you could eat out that whole fuckin’ Italian restaurant over there and I bet Moriah would just be fuckin’ happy about it!”

"It’s not cause’ve the looks anymore…" Loni protested. It was, like with so many things, her forgetfulness and how easily influenced she was. Still all those lingering doubts from when she was a young, impressionable girl. It wasn’t like the others around her, Vin aside, had Green Lux. Even her Mama.

”Sure it ain’t… Then you ain’t gonna protest when I make you a third, huh? Like Kiki said, tons of calories burned. Gotta use up the eggs anyway!” Vin’s lips pulled back into a wicked grin, head tilting back towards Kiki.
”You wantin' any? We probably got enough.”

Aware of it looking rather hypocritical if she said no, she locked in an excuse before denying the food, and then still made it completely conditional.

”Yeah, but I mean, if I can cook it? Not sayin’ you ain’t good at it, I just like my eggs like a disgusting animal, and cookin’ em like that is delicate work. Unless you make a decent soft-scramble?” Kiki shrugged her shoulders non-confrontationally.

Truly, she didn’t want to presume what Vin’s skillset was. Not like they talked enough for her to know much. But, she didn’t mind waiting, if nothing else. After all, her attention was almost entirely fixated on the tender moment before her. She made sure to catch the globs of cheese from the corner of Luci’s mouth, tipping it back in.

”Jesus Christ, Luci…-” she breathily giggled to herself.
”-You learn to eat from Auntie Momo? Sciattona…”

“Ahn Mo!” Luci giggled, seeming to agree that she had indeed learned to eat from her Auntie Momo.

”Nah, we ain’t soft-scramble folks here. If you wanna, you can make ‘em yourself when I’m done.” Vin shrugged one shoulder.

Loni glanced between them, smiling. Even though it was a simple thing, she was glad there was no fighting. Vin had a tendency to get a bit tetchy with anyone that wasn’t her or Luci… Especially when said person had ‘barged’ into their space. Like a territorial animal.

"Yeah, we ain’t, but we also ain’t precious about our cookware!" Loni giggled.
"And Auntie Momo ain’t the only bad influence… It’s Tio Vin too!"

”Huh?” Vin, almost comically, looked over from absolutely tearing into their thick omelette like an animal while the third for Loni didn’t need immediate tending to.

Kiki could only laugh out loud at the sight.

”Holy cow, the resemblance is uncanny! Man… I wish… Well, I hope one day you guys can find some kind of even ground, Vin. You and Momo, I mean! I uh, don’t wanna get long winded about it or anything.” she smiled up, her enthusiasm only slightly dulled by the idea that Vin probably wasn’t very interested in the concept.

”Just, y’know, I bet Lon’s said the same thing: Y’all are fairly alike in the best kind of ways! I’d easily imagine you in the Cullan Cryptarn, or as a Lady of the Dames on the frontline- Ooh, I’m sorry! Sorry, shit, I gush!” she bit her lip, putting her imagination to bed for now to make sure both girls in front of her got food.

Like she found admiration for Loni, she extended such fantastical perception to Vin. She knew it wasn’t right, and did her best to refrain from spilling it, but she’d expressed her headcanon to Loni before. Long ramblings she was never sure Loni was even going to remember later on.

Vin's brow furrowed, a hint of confusion in their dark eyes. Sure, Loni had said they had some similarities with Moriah. They could get it a bit- there was healthy respect between them because of it. Strength recognised strength and all that… Though from what little Vin had actually taken in about Matriarchs, they could never actually compete on a purely physical, Green basis. It'll probably be mutual destruction if they went all out against each other… Only because of Vin's strong, honed Black Lux. If that weakness didn't exist, they had no hope.

Frustratingly. It was part of why they didn't like Moriah. Inadequacy in comparison, and fearing that they'd lose Loni to this new, better family. None of that Black Lux taint that scared her… It was a conflicting feeling. Glad she had other people to protect her, upset there were other people around…

And they were used to being the strongest person in the room. There were few they deferred to… only Gideon, really.

"Vin ain't the organised violence type! Like… Mama suggested the army when we were young and they scoffed at that." Loni shrugged, happily eating all the food offered to her.

”Cause I ain't serving a country that's done fuck all for me.” Vin snorted with a slight eye roll.
”The fucks the Cullan Cryptarn? Or a Lady of the Dames… sounds like a fuckin' stupid title, honestly.”

Stupid title or not, Kiki was just happy enough to have someone taking interest enough to ask questions!

”Oh, I mean, maybe it does sound a bit dumb! But, it’s a pretty important position! I mean… You can look at it and be like ‘Oh so they’re just teacher’s pets’ but really they’re like uh…-”

She realized quickly that actual military terminology was impossible, but so was a high level vocab explanation.

”-Well, basically they’re the ones who coordinate all the Adepts serving in the Corps underneath the Commendatoriate. Essentially, squires to the Knights that are Matriarchs. And then the Corps is the footman army; professional soldiers loyal to Culla. My sis Fio’s a Lady of the Dames!” she explained enthusiastically.

It was essentially a Non-Commissioned Officer’s position, and almost always reserved for Matriarchal daughters who weren’t Matriarchs themselves. Their own little club: The Noble Ladies of the Bridge Society, whose job it was to breathe humanity into the often inhuman orders and expectations of the Commendatoriate above them. Oftentimes, their job was far more difficult than one would imagine, as they typically presided over entire platoons of men who were tightly corralled to prevent exposure to outside ideals and values. Almost all of their power came from the edifice that surrounded them, meaning all of the “Noble Ladies” were expected to mirror and echo the strength of their Matriarch.

Career Ladies were often stronger than the Matriarchs who came to command them based on their experience and familiarity with their magic. And, just like Moriah took care of Sori as a student, it wasn’t uncommon for the Noble Ladies to act as teachers and mentors of young Dames until such a time that they were battle-tested in their own rights. They were a respected caste of warriors, and the most hardcore career soldiers that the Cullan military could muster at any given time.

”But, uh… Well, the Cryptarn is essentially the Death Caste! They’re Black Lux users, sworn to Culla and only taught a specific group of spells given to our ancestors by the Deer. She stole them from the Hound, and taught us to use them in order to conceal Culla from the Hound itself! Which is why they say people who live in Culla don’t die!” she excitedly explained, scooping another bit of omelette into Luci’s mouth, then Loni’s.

Loni didn’t take the omelette with as much fervour as before, brightness dimming a little bit. She hadn’t heard that people in Culla don’t die… She thought and assumed they did. Sure, their creation wasn’t natural, but prolonging your life to become deathless was… Wrong. It was what their Mama had warned them against.

”Maybe if I’d grown up in the cult, sure… But I ain’t fond of givin’ up my freedom. Or commandin’ and coordinatin' shit… That’s fuckin’ boring. Didn’t realise you guys had a Death Caste, I thought Black Lux was fuckin’ hated.” Vin shook their head. They weren’t interested in the way they looked up to the Cullan way, but more out of some interest in the more militaristic aspects of their society.

How they organised themselves to kill. What Vin could listen to and copy. But their opinion of the overarching coven was poor. The Matriarchal dominance was just another caste system, people putting themselves above others because of some birthright. Maybe that one was strength, sure, but it was still fucked to them.

”Pretty fuckin’ restrictive if it’s just specific stolen spells. Is it just protective bullshit? I’d rip someone’s throat out before I let ‘em restrict what kinda magic I could do. Bet they’re looked down on too.” Vin wasn’t above jumping to conclusions as they finished off their first omelette. Another was ready for Loni, and they set about making themselves a second.

"Vin, you asked." Loni said with a slight frown, before looking at Kiki.
"Do they really not die in Culla?"

”I think it’s more that the souls don’t get taken. They don’t get moved into the Hound’s domain, they don’t get redistributed, yadda yadda. Physical bodies last as long as the spiritual connection exists, but most mortals can’t keep up the staving off of age. The basic stuff that makes you a person starts to break down. Then, you go into the Great Tree, and your soul lives in the Deer’s light until a time where you force yourself back to the surface to be claimed!” Kiki explained excitedly.

”As for their relationship, Vin? They can’t really be touched! We’re all taught how important they are, and how the point of them being there is to protect us all. It’s a noble thing. The Cryptarn are honored for all the things in their lives they give up. But, they’re beasts! You’ve got nothing but time down there to figure out how to call upon the souls in the Tree to do crazy shit!” she added, hoping that it at least sounded cool.

She knew she was never going to win Vin over. That had never been the point, honestly. But, like Loni said, she asked at that point.

”Ain’t like I ever expect you at our door, Vin: I think my original point is that I get consistent badass vibes from you. And, y’know, Momo respects it. But, I like it. I heard you mopped up one of those goopy guys all by yourself!” she applied gentle buttering up as a subtle technique.

Vin’s eyebrows raised slightly. They found it a bit odd, because very few people who weren’t in some kind of rough gang had any interest in being near them. And Kiki was Loni’s friends- anyone who expected the twins to be similar were hit with the harsh reality soon enough. So for her to say she ‘liked’ the badass vibes was… Odd to them.

”I did. Did she tell ya it almost got me too? Hell of a fight, ain’t had one that fuckin’ fun in an age.” Their lips pulled back into a wider grin with all the joy of a Green Adept shining in their eyes.

"No, because you didn’t tell me that?!" Loni squeaked out, trying to keep her voice low so to not freak out Luci. Thankfully, she was distracted for the moment eating all the cheesy-egg goodness Kiki was feeding her.

”Oh, shit. Well, I’m fine. Ain’t so bad, y’know magical healin’ and all.” They rubbed the back of their neck, not particularly happy they’d upset Loni. They genuinely thought they’d already said… Or maybe they decided not to say at all. Fuck.
”The fucker I fought was strong. It could… Copy magic, I think. Some of the shit it used against me was way to similar to my own shit. Thank fuck it was an Apparition so I could fuckin’ blast it.”

Kiki froze involuntarily. Momo hadn’t said anything about them copying magic! Was… Were her powers out of their reach? Was it a testament to the power of two Matriarchs meeting; that one against the other was only a matter of who struck first? No, it couldn’t be- Nobody had experienced a Verulian Tremor. She knew Momo would’ve had to power up significantly, and since there were no ripples in the surrounding area, there was no chance!

”That is why we should all be talkin’ more! I know maybe every time we meet, I sound like a broken record, but I don’t think Moriah even knows they can copy magic! She fought three at once according to her report, and there ain’t a shred of evidence to suggest they were copyin’ her magic! I mean, this completely changes the way we’re going to be expected to handle future engagements! Like, do your people know there’s more!? Mo says she’s got my brother on the case! And he doesn’t work for shit!” she blurted out, genuinely concerned over the lack of cross-communication between factions in the city.
After the Cataclysm, it almost looked like there was going to be some kind of Union! But, nowadays, it was back to profit-seeking and keeping to one’s own space. At least people in the North weren’t actively killing one another over ward control, but still!

"The one I dealt with didn’t! I don’t think? It sure didn’t copy any of mine… It just merged with the shadows and controller other people!" Loni also hadn’t heard about the whole magic copying thing, looking at Vin then Kiki with wide eyes.

That sounded awful. Because what if they copied something super powerful and blew up the whole city? Could they do that?!

”Calm down, we dunno they can all do that. Mine didn’t teleport around shadows or any shit. Maybe they’re all fuckin’ different. They’re Apparitions, after all, not like… Fuckin’ monsters our Black Lux can’t touch.” Vin held up their hands to a casual comment that had elicited more of a reaction than they expected.

They probably should’ve expected it, though. Maybe they should be more worried… But they weren’t, yet. If they could kill it, it wasn’t a problem.

”The fuck you mean more? Like runnin’ ‘round now? I know there was mine, Lon’s, Momo’s, and some one outta town Gideon mentioned… But I ain’t seen more since. Or sensed ‘em, and I’ve been checkin’.” Vin frowned for a moment, before devouring half an omelette in one bite. They were done with making theirs now, it seemed.

”But fine, if there’s more, you’ve got a point ‘bout talkin’ more. I ain’t a fan of that shit-”
"Cause you’re pricklier than you gotta be!”
”Yeah, sure, whatever… But I wanna keep the city- and those two- safe. The Hollow wants the same thing, far as I’m aware. If there’s more… Well, what’s your brother lookin’ into?”

”Well, Momo’s sendin’ him into the mountains! I guess it’s what he does best: He was some kind of hunter or tracker in the US Army. He never served for Culla, ‘cuz Mom and Our Lady had to give him up as a kid. But, he’s also not an Adept anymore, he’s Adjoined; so maybe they won’t be able to copy the Cat’s abilities. Either way, there’s s’posedly some kind of bigger threat that’s comin’ down to sweep through the Valley, or so says those Hippies up in Raven’s Rest.” she casually commented in reference to the Grove settled in the North.

She didn’t know a lot about those people still left up there. When she was young, the town was a thriving little community, if not almost entirely full of people who were out of work. With all the people from up there who died in the Cataclysm to protect the local area, it was a wonder anyone stuck around in ghost towns like Raven’s Rest. Elay hadn’t! She was certain that was the first thing he did after claiming the Wampus Cat; move back down to where civilization met destruction. At least he was here to watch it all get rebuilt…

”But, usually he works locally down here. Like, y’know, at Deciduous! I guess right now he’s lookin’ into this weird card game racket. He has stepped on Hollow toes a few times; it’s good that he’s not technically one of us in that regard!”

Reactionarily, Kiki rubbed the coat against herself like a hug, remembering Elay at his best, rather than his most recent.

“There’s a bigger threat comin’?!” Loni squeaked out, loud enough for Luci to look up at her with wide eyes.

“Ah-bah?”

“It’s okay, Baby, Mama’s just shocked. Uh-”

”Nothin’s gonna happen while Tio’s here, huh? Your Mama’s just worried there’s a big threat comin’ for her food.” Vin moved over to Loni and Luci, leaning down to kiss Luci’s curls. Then they tore off a piece of omelette.

”Ahhhh…” They said as it moved towards their open gullet.

“No, ahd! Ahd!” Luci giggled, legs kicking and hands flailing towards Vin. Right before they actually ate it, the piece changed direction and was sent to Luci’s lips. She happily ate it, distracted once again.

With the crisis averted, Vin looked back at Kiki with more seriousness.
”If there’s maybe a bigger threat, I gotta tell Gideon… Assumin’ he don’t know. He ain’t always sharin’ these kinda things with, uh, staff members.”

Then their brow furrowed. Someone with a cat who’d stepped on their toes… Why did that ring a bell?
”What kinda Cat’s he got?”

Shit… Was this a secret? What if they were looking for him?

”An… Orange one… Big, fat, orange… Sassy?” she replied very simply, almost coy in her attempt to discern a reaction from Vin before going too far into things. Her face said “oops” all over it.

There was a moment more of thoughtfulness, before recognition dawned across their face. Then a wide grin, with slightly sharpened teeth.
”That was your fuckin’ brother?”

The first time that guy had caused trouble in their territory, someone else had been sent. Said person had refused to ever deal with him again. So the second time, it was Vin. They’d said they’d deal with him every time he caused problems from there on… Because they rarely got such a good fight.

Someone who was clearly enjoying it too. It had been good. Until Vin had used a bit too much Black Lux, that was, and the sassy bastard cat dipped. Still been a good fight after- just they’d stopped worrying about losing. He hadn’t stopped till he couldn’t fight anymore.

It had been fun!

”He ain’t been lookin’ to cause any more trouble, is he?” Vin asked ominously. Maybe the Hollow really was looking for him…
”He was the last real fun fight I had aside from the goopy copier, and I ain’t exactly gonna hunt one of ‘em down.”

Kiki grimaced.

”Oh Deer in the Forest, why must he make trouble when he doesn't find it? He's such…-”

She stopped herself when she realized the kind of expression Vin had on their face. That same look Momo got when one of the Matriarch Cousins came… The look of knowing there was someone interesting to slobber.

Most training exercises were Mo's excuse to let out some aggression. Long gone were the days of the Cataclysm and before, when Matriarchs like Allegra and Bella would travel into the mountains to hunt strange hill monsters for the thrill. Now, the world was so sterile. Especially their local area. The overinflux of Paranormal beings shuffling into the city after the Cataclysm had seen to it that any wild or otherwise untamed powers fled for the hills beyond.

”Ancients all, please don't tell me he… You're not looking for him to hurt him, right? I promise, we've been trying to wrangle him back up. Actually, could… I pay? I mean, pay for one of your people, or maybe the network, to keep tabs on him down here? There's this chick! Nessa Mendoza, or Mendez, something? The two of them have been shacked up, but Momo don't care enough to think its dangerous. But, Elay doesn't really shack up with people, right? He kinda does his own thing! So, so, so-”

She was openly nervous now. Maybe giddy? Her anxiety level wasn't clear, but she was suddenly asking for surveillance as if the Twin Hill didn't have the capacity for it. Her best assumption was that Vin would at least have the spare resources to get the task done subtly. For Moriah, little Dryad constructs didn't exactly blend into the South Side aesthetic…

”I ain't lookin' to hurt… Just fuckin' fight. Ain't the same thing. But we ain't really the surveillance type. ‘Specially if it ain't on our territory.” Vin responded, head tilting with a hint of confusion at the sudden change. They did have eyes and ears here and there, but it wasn't exactly something Vin paid attention to. They protected people who needed it, and beat up those causing trouble. The guys under them tended to be the violent sort. Maybe they could ask Marco if he had anyone… But saying what? 'Spy on my sister's friend's brother cause she's worried about his girlfriend?’ It sounded incredibly ridiculous put like that.

"W-wait, are you worried she'll hurt him? Or that they're gonna do somethin' together?" Loni asked, shuffling her chair around towards Kiki. One arm stayed wrapped around Luci, while her other hand reached out for Kiki's. She seemed really nervous!

Vin didn't particularly care for the reason.
”I ain't guaranteeing nothing, but I know guys in this District at least… And I can keep a lookout. Then it ain't Hollow business- cause soon as it is, it's a pain in the ass for me to explain.”

”All I’m sayin’ is that he doesn’t hang around anyone for more than a day or two at most. I’m getting weird vibes! Like, how do I explain? Like, when our Ma disappeared, right? People started showing up around her. People that Chess and the others don’t think she ever would’ve hung out with. So, I’m worried! I wanna make sure she ain’t, like, mind controlling him. Or worse, that the Cat’s forcin’ him to do something he ain’t really supposed to! Our Lady rolls in her grave as it is!”

Her admission to some kind of internalized fear wasn’t uncommon. She wasn’t the closed book that some of her older sisters were, after all. But, it was what was coming through the family gossip line that got her worried more than anything. That Elay had shown up in two places back to back, pretty brazenly.

”Lon… What do you know about parasites?”
She was chopping up the last little bit of this omelette into tiny pieces to pop into Luci’s mouth. But, her gaze was locked on Loni.

"Well there's a lotta parasitic bugs. Most've the time they live on their hosts… or they're, like, parasitic breeders! Lay their eggs where another bugs were- wait?! You don't think-" Loni covered Luci's ears as she happily nommed away, leaning forward with a hushed whisper.
"She's stolen some've semen to make a super baby, then gonna dump on him, like'a parasitic wasp?!"

Vin couldn't help but just outright laugh at that suggestion of their sister's.
”C’mon… that guy ain't doing anything he don't want to. He's got magical protection, mind control ain't gettin' through that. Otherwise… what is she, a seven feet tall hulk? Or the cats got the hots for the girl and's makin' him keep her around? Fuckin' hell- he probably just wants the easy, consistent fuck.”

"Vin!" Loni admonished, like that was somehow worse than what she'd suggested.

”Well, I was thinkin’ about the Cat! Y’know, how there’s cats that eat rats, but the rats have a parasite that makes them shitty and weak, and practically begging to get eaten? Because the parasite wants to be inside the Cat! I figured, y’know, maybe- Look, it ain’t the weirdest thing that’s happened! If she’s got some kind of parasite apparition, maybe-” Kiki tossed up her free hand.

”-Maybe the Cat becomes the one who gets mind controlled without even realizing! Otherwise, I mean… He’s probably got the hots for her, yeah.” she ultimately shrugged, shaking her head.

Pushing the last pieces of omelette onto the fork, she made a car noise as she sent it flying toward Luci’s mouth, but then imitated the car tires squealing to a powerslide before letting Loni eat it.

”You done with that pan?”

“Ahhh! Mama!” Luci squealed, wriggling on Loni's lap so she could stand like she was going to steal the piece right out of Loni's mouth. Loni quickly ate it before laughing slightly.

”Yeah, it's all yours.” Vin nodded.
”Just don't burn anymore shit onto than's already there.”

The whole brother thing was settled in their mind. It was obviously just a normal, longer term hookup. Even the worst people could have them… not that Vin knew much about this guy, outside of his fighting ability. But he must be pretty bad if his sister didn't think he'd keep anyone around for just a few days.

But Loni was looking up at them with adorably wide eyes, practically begging them to do more. The more she stared up, the more Vin couldn't take it. Fucking hell, why the fuck should they help some North side woman just cause-

”I ain't promisin’ anythin’, but if I see him, I'll check. That she ain't gotta Apparition mind controlling his. Real fuckin' easy to tell with Black Lux.” Or by punching him. If something was leeching the cat, there was no way it'd be as strong.
”That’s it. Cause Loni's clearly worried that you're worried.”

”I swear, Vin, that it wouldn’t be on my mind if it wasn’t crazy! Lon’s met him a couple times. He’s intense, ain’t he Lon? There’s gotta be enough red flags there that you wouldn’t date him!”

As she spoke, Kiki stood up and planted a kiss on Luci’s adorable little noggin before making her way to the pan. There were still plenty of eggs amazingly, so she cracked near half a dozen into a bowl and whisked away until they were well beaten. Butter hit the pan on low heat, and she let the egg mixture dribble out of the bowl into the hot oil. It didn’t sizzle, which was what she was looking for. No noise; just the slow coagulation of egg curdle until it became a gelatinous, near soupy texture. She folded in more butter, salt and pepper, and kept slowly stirring.

"He's pretty intense, but he ain't… the worst? I'm sure someone would! Just not me!" Loni said cheerfully, letting Luci down so she could run back to playing with plastic animals. She wasn't going to admit that she only knew about those red flags because Kiki had told her… and the real initial turn off had been his relation to Momo and Kiki anyway…

”Oh, must be real bad.” Vin intoned after watching Loni for a moment. If she even admitted it without having experienced it, it must be fairly obvious. Normally Loni only noticed the red flags when they hit her right in the face…

”How much money he got? There's plenty down here who’d sleep with all sorts just to leech their cash- cause, y'know, we ain't get many opportunities. That seems way more likely than an Apparition parasite.” They asked, not bothering to hide their disgust for how Kiki was making her eggs.

”He's totally broke! I'm pretty sure every time he has the opportunity to make more money, he increases his budget for alcohol! I mean, he's got assets? A car, the business; though, I'm almost certainly it ain't actually his. Some other dude owns the building, so it can't be his entirely.” Kiki explained as she pulled the pan off the heat entirely to finish her egg glop.

The she paused as she watched it come together, thinking about the conversation. How'd they get to Elay? Oh, right…

”I think my point was how Mo's got him prepping to do some army shit in the mountains. I'm not sure if this new girlfriend is gonna go with him, or if she's staying here in town. Either way, maybe we can make it a joint effort? Like, if they're Apparitions, maybe one of you can go with him? Keep him safe? Or, maybe there's another Black Lux user you could call?”

She realized that she was asking a lot, but the natural inclination toward babying Elay extended to each of the girls. Whether they were able to break the internalized conditioning or not was simply a matter of desire. Gia? She'd been burned enough by him. And Chessa had her own feelings regardless of the broken spell.

But Kiki? She never believed it was magic. Never believed their Mama could've conditioned all the sisters to pay their brother an exorbitant amount of attention and deference. It simply made no sense from the Cullan perspective, so it never would've happened to begin with!

”I dunno any other Black Adepts.” Vin dismissed that suggestion immediately. There hadn't been any in the Hollow before they joined, and they had a bad habit of killing any with magic vaguely similar to their Mama's… or their own… It was the other Adepts fault for not being strong enough to beat them, anyway.

”You ain't seriously suggestin' Lon could go with him?” They stared at Kiki for a moment, before laughing. Obviously not. The one of you clearly meant them. They weren't in the business of just doing shit for Twin Hill members just cause Loni was part of it, even if it was her closest friend asking. Technically for Kiki rather than the coven.

”Honestly I don't give a fuck if your brother's got some Apparitional leech or keepin' him safe-”
"Vin."
”- But the fuckin’ threat? That I'm interested in. I dunno how the fuck you propose I'd even go with him- seemed the kinda solitary, punch anyone nearby type-”

"Like you! You'll get on great!" Loni piped up brightly, giggling.

”Sure, or kill each other. Whatever- I wanna know what the fucks going on. So I'd follow him just for that.”

”Then, I can hook it up! I’ll promise Momo I’ll start working cases at the Agency, the uptown ones that she wants a feminine hand for. And it’ll take pressure off him finally, which he’ll return by takin’ you along! I’ll make sure to tell him not to treat you like you’s military, but we know you ain’t so that’s all good. You’re an asset I say, and if he’s got any kinda mutual respect, he’ll probably just try and tell you what to do once he figures you ain’t got a clue anymore. Is that something you can deal with?” Kiki asked, making the last pass of the spoon into her velveteen scramble.

Which she then dumped wholesale into her mouth like a trash can lid opening to accept refused garbage. It was hot; but not hot enough to burn her tongue and mouth like a normal person’s would. All she got was hot, eggy and buttery goodness…

Like a monster…

Vin was far more bothered by the consistency of the eggs than the method of eating. Loni was used to it, but…

"Luci's never gonna eat normally with all've you eatin' like this around her!" Loni exclaimed with a laugh.

“Mah?” Luci looked up from her playing at the sound of her name.

"All've your aunts and uncles are bad influences, ain't they, Mijita?"

“Bah!” She succinctly agreed, throwing a toy horse into the air with a giggle before going back to playing.

Vin let out a light laugh, the sight softening their answer just a little bit.
”If he tries to tell me what to do when it ain't needed, I'll rip his throat out. Otherwise? Sure. But he gotta know he ain't in charge. I ain't workin' for him or this agency… I'm goin' cause've personal interest. Maybe if it works out, he ain't gotta worry 'bout causin' problems on Hollow territory. If he needs more motivation to take me along.”

They didn’t ask for money or anything. From the way they were viewing it, they were doing this as a Hollow member. A joint venture, or some shit. They'd have to talk to Gideon about it anyway, cause they couldn't just fuck off for a few days with no notice.

Kiki giggled at Luci’s response, shaking her head at Loni with a big smile before refocusing on Vin’s statement.

”Don’t literally rip his throat out. He’s only violent like that when he’s drinking, and there’s a higher than usual chance he’ll be sober during the operation! Now, we were already planning a cross-coven meeting. Let’s just put that little sidebar into the agenda and we can play it by ear based on how things go! I think that sounds super reasonable, if you think you can agree with that Vin? Not even a friend thing, just a, y’know, smart thing to do between two of the biggest covens in Cloverfield.” she turned with a smile, starting to move toward washing the pan before stopping dead in her tracks.

”Wait, yo, if the water’s that fucked up, how do you do the dishes?!”

”We boil it.” Vin intoned.

"It ain't so bad when it comes out warm either! At least, the shower ain't feel so bad!" Loni piped up. Not that the hot water lasted long… or Loni had showers here that often. She pretty much always showered after work anyway, since the facilities there were way nicer. And it was easier to get Luci cleaned up then too!

”Well it ain't bein' ingested then so it ain't so much of a problem.” Vin moved back towards the kitchen, pulling out their biggest saucepan. They filled it with water and threw it back on the stove.
”As for the meetin’ and brother shit… sure, sounds reasonable enough. I'm sure soon as I tell Gideon he'll want someone goin' out there anyway. Easier to work together, since we ain't got the numbers to spare if shit might get into the city in the meanwhile.”

”You… Don’t have the numbers? You’re a gang, ain’t you s’posed to have goons and shit? We’ve got goons! The entire waste management treatment facility’s full of Twin Hill goons!” Kiki admitted, a shocked expression on her face as she filled the pan with water and stuck it back on the burner to heat up.

”We got 'goons'- fuckin' lower level members, yeah. But they ain't just sittin' around treating waste all the day waitin' for the call, they got actual shit they're doin' everyday. We gotta be like the fuckin' police down here… ain't like they do shit. And y'know how many died in the cataclysm? We ain't just got idle people sittin' ‘round, especially if there's more of those goopy fuckers around.” Vin shook their head, not particularly surprised Kiki had just assumed that.

Gideon was rich, but not that rich. So much of his money was funnelled into improving the city. It wasn't like Twin Hill were so many of the members did work that actually made the money that paid them- like Loni. Vin worked far more than they were actually paid for, but they certainly weren't making a shit ton. It wasn't like Gideon'd ever charge unreasonable protection rates or any of that shit… They had the numbers, but they also had a shit ton of ground to cover. It'd be a push for them to go, cause they were pretty fucking important in the grand scheme of things!

”Shit ain't work the same down here. Gotta be judge, jury, executioner and protector. Everyone's got their shit they gotta handle… gonna be bad enough if I go and other guys gotta replace me for awhile.”

Kiki narrowed her eyes. The only thing she could assume was either they seriously lacked manpower, or the sheer size and density of The Circle’s population compared to Tuscania- Wait… They were in charge of a sizeable chunk of the entire South Nine. Their lines were just so stretched, and the Cullan Tithe favored Moriah’s strategic control of the city’s waste treatment facilities so heavily in order to protect that asset, that they had people to spare.

A third of the Fourth Ward’s police force was Cullan-born, typically the Third-Eye Opens who could act as bridges between their Blind comrades and their magical kindred. Those kinds of Mundane who, unable to fit into the society that gave birth to them, or otherwise unwelcomed, would be taken to the Schola and raised as nameless chattel. Coming here to America, and being part of the Tithe’s affordance to a tributary like the Twin Hills, was frankly a blessing.

”Y’all find yourself spending magical power on mundane tasks? Get Third-Eyes… Ain’t like there ain’t good people lookin’ for jobs, right? Safe pennies from y’all is probably a lot better than nothing from nowhere, right?” she described the basic concept, shrugging her shoulders.

”I mean, y’all got a lot more ground to cover than us. We just drive the trucks, right? But, the way I see how money works, the more hands available to make it, the quicker it funnels in no matter who else is scrapin’ off the top. Basic trickle down theory; the boss just has to be willing to have all the shit flowin’ down to them rather than letting it climb up a pyramid.” she was staring down at the bubbles slowly forming, imagining the millions of germs dying and slipping to the surface in the ribbons of steam forming.

Vin rolled their eyes at what wasn't exactly a bad suggestion, but just didn't work practically.
”Your overestimatin' the amount of people that'd work for the Hollow. We got Third-Eyes, we gotta influx of new recruits since the Cataclysm, but it ain't enough with what we gotta do. I ain't gonna pretend to understand the money shit anyway… but I trust Gideon. He made it, after all! And he gets his hands dirty all've the time.”

Loni laughed a bit nervously, worried that Vin was actually going to start at fight or something. They were beginning to get that way they did when they felt someone was talking bullshit, and when it was someone from the North… they always started to react worse…

"We ain't tryna fix the Hollow issues, are we? Ain't like they don't got loads've cash… but there are loadsa people who ain't quite so desperate to join." She said with a slight smile.

”Yeah, like… this annoying fuckin' lady I met. Cleaner at the hospital, I kinda offered her a job cause… She clearly needed the extra cash! And cleaners are real useful but nah. She just wanted to babysit Luci if it was needed.”

"She's gonna be fighting all the free babysitters for that!"

”No offer for something later on? No splicing the racket? I’d have hooked her up with any other Hollow-adjacent mom in need of childcare! If you’d trust her to do one job, you’d trust her with another, right? It’s basic business; Momo don’t let any stranger walk away without figurin’ out something they’d be able to do in the org. That’s, uh… Well, obviously that’s why you guys got off to a bad start, if I remember?” Kiki asked, satisfied as the bubbles started to froth up at the surface.

”How much demand for a Hollow babysitter d’you think there is?” Vin asked with a slight laugh just at the image of it. Certainly wasn't something that had even crossed their mind. God, would Paloma pester them even when they were away.

”Yeah. She tried to get me to move over for some kinda fuckin' work, I don't remember- like I'm only doing shit for the money. Only fuckin’ cared a bit more ‘bout it cause Lon had Luci in the way… But I ain't ever gonna abandon the shit down here.” It hadn't just been that, of course. It was the perceived threat. Their sister came back because she was pregnant, only for Vin to have to deal with this woman that had stolen their role in some ways for the year and a half they were seperated.

Of course they weren't friendly. They'd already made up their mind, and the attempt to drag them into doing some shit for ‘the org' as Kiki put it hadn't helped.
”She ain't exactly the friendliest about it, either.”

"Hey, Momo's real nice when you ain't bein' all aggressive at her!"

”I won’t say this as a defence, more an explanation; but she can feel how much more you’ve been exposed to the Hound’s Shadow than Lon. That’s gotta make plenty of sense, given the biology goin’ on there. She gets nutty!”

Finally, the satisfactory foam level in the water had been achieved. Maximum surface tension. All the leftover particles filled it with a vaguely viscous yellow hue that bubbled until she pulled it away. Then, with the sponge in hand and soap upon it, she dove an ungloved hand right into the water. Her skin quickly equalized with the boiling temperature of the water, her Equalization spell sparing her any of the detrimental effects of boiling herself. She began scrubbing away happily.

”But, hey, that’s what people like me are for! Us Adepts, we’re like the uh, vampire familiars. Walk in the day, do the master’s bidding, all that happy crappy. Not so intense, probably, but personally if I can do shit that makes everyone’s lives easier, I’ll do it. Except for giving up dancing, I think I’ll do that ‘till I can’t cast a spell to look sexy anymore.”

"You don't gotta look sexy to keep dancin'! Maybe in the club, but nothin's stoppin' you!" Loni said brightly. She certainly didn't plan to stop… the only time she did was when she was too pregnant to get on a pole!

”It is easier dealin' with you than Moriah, I'll admit that much.” Vin shrugged one shoulder. They weren't exactly jumping to have anyone from that part of Loni's life in their own or anything, but they could recognise the more tolerable ones. They'd accepted a long time there'd be disconnect between their groups anyway, since they were so different. Future partners too…

”But what happens if Lon starts using more Black Lux? Moriah gonna stop bein' around her so much? She ain't gonna kick her out, is she?”

Kiki happily licked her lips.
”Actually… Loni can tell you about that. She got an honor detail recently! So I hear, at least…”

She leaned back to look at Loni squarely.

”You can tell her just about anything except where the detail is. Can’t give that one up. That’s the rule as someone in your position.” she explained.

Though, she wasn’t sure how well Momo really explained the significance of the opportunity that child provided the future of Culla. Surely, she would be a freak… But, she would be the first of her kind! A Cryptarn Dame, born above a seed that came directly from the tree in the center of Culla. The Heartwood… It sent chills up her spine just thinking about what she could do for the other Matriarchs, and for the Cryptarn in Culla… Or what she would potentially do to them. It was too much for her imagination, and she reflexively swung her hips about in joyous revelry.

Vin turned and raised their eyebrows towards Loni, who just waved her hands in front of herself.

"I'll tell you later… I ain't feelin' like gettin' into it again right now. But… I don't wanna do more Black Lux anyway! Not when it's so dangerous." Loni shuddered slightly. She didn't see herself getting over her Black Lux aversion anytime soon, and didn't want to. Not when it killed their Mama. She had a protection spell, she didn't need anymore.

Vin held their tongue for once. It was an argument they'd had over and over again. Them using their Black Lux for work was why Loni had left in the first place. From what Vin had seen, as long as they didn't do what their Mama did, they'd be fine. They had Green! They could track it! They knew they were perfectly fine and Loni would be too.

”Well, sure, ain't gonna be a problem then. Don't mean I like you feelin' like you ain't allowed to use half your magic cause some ragin' magical bitch-”
"Vin!"
”- can't handle a lil spice. But we've had this argument before, I ain't lookin' to argue again.”

”Oh, it’s no argument! It’s the story of the Lion with the thorn, or the Elephant and the mouse. Neither controls their nature, yet it can’t be disputed that they are deeply affected by that very nature. Our elephants just smash, rather than turn and run. And with a pretty crappy success rate, may I add. She’s actually gotten pretty good about it, I’d say. When Loni gets scared, and she can’t control it, Momo’s usually good to be there! It’s kind of crazy, actually, so I’d start worrying about that, maybe.”

And the pan was finally clean, the last bit of water tugging away the soap down the drain. She placed it back on the stove, not sure where else to keep it safely without accruing just as many germs as if she’d just washed it with the tap water.

”If I’m bein’ real honest, and I know it’s gonna sound nutty, but I don’t think Moriah wants to hold her back from it anymore. Hence, y’know… Lon…” she shrugged, moving back across the kitchen to wrap her arms around Loni’s shoulders and plant a kiss on her head.

"W-What?" Loni stammered out, head slowly creaking back to look up at Kiki.

Vin let out a slight sigh.
”You’re misunderstandin’ a bit, Kiki… The argument ain't just ‘bout Moriah. It started long before she was even around. It’s cause of the exact thing you're implyin' right there. Moriah's black lux allergy is just part of the problem! And if she don't want you holdin' back Lon…”

Though even they knew it wasn't as simple as that. Even if Moriah's tune had changed, the last few years had already formed the idea in Loni's head. Reinforced what she'd decided was the truth- Black Lux was dangerous for everyone and herself. That wall had already been built and couldn't just be knocked down. Their Mama hadn't helped, both in life and death.

Loni started to shake her head.
"No, no, I ain't usin' it more. Ain't it enough I ain't upset you do, Vin? If it's already gonna kill you like it did Mama, someone's gotta be left for Luci! Even worse that it hurts Momo too! I use my Green, it's fine!"

”I’ve never thought that part of you was ugly, Lon… It ain’t scary to me either. Not when I know you’ve got so much more support behind you than your Ma! Think about all you’ve said to me before! All the stories about how your Ma didn’t have anyone behind her! Don’t you think that hurt more than her magic?” Kiki pleaded gently, rubbing Loni’s shoulders gently.

”I ain’t tryna turn this little meeting into a bad dream, Baby… I’m sorry. Nevermind it all for now.” she softly cooed, leaning down and hugging Loni.

”Lulu, sweetie? Come hug Mama! C’mon, come here! We’re huggin! Look, Tio Vin’s gonna hug too!” she not-so-subtly waved her hand at Vin to huddle up.

Loni wasn't able to stop herself from crying when her Mama was brought up, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried not to full on sob.
"It- It was the magic that killed her! We know that!"

”But it wasn’t all've her magic.” Vin said as softly as they could. They didn't go direct for Loni, instead swooping past Luciana to pick her up so she didn't have to panickedly toddle over to her crying Mama.

“Mammmaaaa?” Her own eyes got a bit watery in reaction as she was plopped into Loni's lap, immediately hugging into her. A little hand even came up to try wipe away the tears.

"Mama's okay, Baby." Loni sniffed loudly. Vin crouched beside them to wrap their arms around the two most important people in their life- oh so carefully, because of their own strength. It was why they were always so standoffish in the first place…

”Mama used specific magic, Lon. Y'know that. She was inviting spirits into her body. Not like, Apparitions-” They explained, for Kiki rather than Loni.
”Actual spirits from beyond that the Hound’d collected. Course it hurt her. But you ain't gotta do that kinda shit, Carnalita.”

"But I know the spell!"

”So? Ain't anybody forcin' you to use it.”

Kiki buried her face in Loni’s hair to prevent the reaction from reaching Vin. The abject horror mounted in a rapid fashion until she was staring indignantly at the follicles of hair on Loni’s head. Pain. Confusion. She had to ask herself what her big sister’s end game was for so long until she finally came to this point. The point where someone wasn’t avoidant, or able to blow past this part of the conversation.

Loni’s Mom had been, essentially, a Cryptarn! Only, she had no source of Life to pull from, meaning that she got her spirits from the most plentiful and ubiquitous source available to her: The domain of the Hound…
Kiki knew that the Apartado under the Mall had been buried in the bones of hundreds of dead Adepts. Cullans who had given their lives to protect whatever Momo told them to. Noble, valiant men and women. There were even a couple Lesser Dames, as she understood, encased in copper vessels to act as anchor souls for the tree to grow its roots from.

Chances were, they probably still hadn’t decayed. Their nascent Green Lux almost guaranteed mummification before the flesh could ever actually rot away… The only question was whether or not she needed Loni to teach the child through attendance, or if she’d already somehow extracted the knowledge through the Cullan Method.

Saliva, blood, hair, marrow, gamete, waste…

The list echoed in her head. The six requirements of the Tithe, all necessary components to pass along an individual’s genetic memory to an unborn Matriarch. Did Moriah think that she’d just have an easier time convincing Loni? No… If she was going to start encouraging it, maybe she’d found some other way entirely…

Her head raised up, the fear and concern slowly melting away.

”She-They… That shit’s so fucking right, Vin. Right, Lon, like- Look, Momo knows you’d never wanna use a spell like that, so she would never force you! Like, I think? I think she’s managed to infiltrate the Cryptarn. ‘Cuz, see, they… I know it’s crazy, but they use a spell just like that. To tap into the tree we call the Heartwood! It’s where the Deer can store and hide souls so they don’t get taken by the Hound! Every Ashram and Fortress important enough gets at least a small tree, and-”

She paused, taking a deep breath and wrapping a hand around Luci to keep her comforted too.

”-Auntie’s point is that… I think she’s gonna show you. One day. Because, when they bowled that rubble down and built the place on top of it? Momo got permission to plant a seed. Which means, Cloverfield’s gonna have its own Cryptarn. I think that they’re… Gonna try and teach you how to do it with Joy, Lon. A better way.” she admitted with incredible sincerity and reverence in her tone.

Loni shuddered a bit at the thought. She just couldn't imagine it ever being joyful. She didn't want to commune with the dead! She hadn't asked to learn the spell! It wasn't her fault she was able to while Vin couldn't, no matter how much they'd had it drilled into them too.

"B-But you said the Cryptarn give up a lot. They're always underground! I don't want somethin' like that… I just wanna normal life. I ain't lookin' to ever do it." She whispered, trying her best not to start crying more just thinking about it. Not with Luci in her arms. She tilted her head forward to nuzzle into her daughter's curls.

She never could. Not when she liked her life as it was- not with both what she had and wanted. Her daughter, all the other children she hoped to have one day…

”That ain't necessarily what she suggestin', Lon.” Vin said evenly, rubbing Loni's shoulder.

"T-They whispered to me, down there. It felt like Mama's magic… I didn't think much ‘bout it, but it scared me." Loni admitted. She didn't want her magic to take her away from Luci in any way. Whether it was her life or her time.

”You ain't gotta go wherever that is again, not unless you wanna. I bet Moriah won't make you… But Lon, if it don't hurt you, it ain't a bad thing. You ain't gotta become one of those Crypt thingies, just comfortable with yourself.” Vin tried to reason, glancing past Loni to Kiki.
”I’m curious how they got that spell. Are they… pure Black Lux, or Green-Black? I suppose it ain't surprisin’ someone figured out a similar spell.”

”That’s the whole point, y’see? The whole story is that the Deer stole a bit of the Hound’s power during a chase, and hid it with the Witches of Culla. But, because she knew they’d be afraid of it, she locked it up in the purest form of life there is. A great, big oak tree. The Culla tree is an entire grove, technically, of interconnected trees that stretches across the entire city, that’s how big it gets.”

She realized then that Momo basically hadn’t explained anything to Loni… Maybe if she had, the reaction wouldn’t be so visceral.

”But, in our case, Lon? She’s doin’ something special. The Unborn’s gonna bridge the gap. A Cryptarn Matriarch, totally hidden from the hound and able to manipulate Apathy as an extension of Joy. It’s… Super complex magic, because you figure they’d never be able to coexist… But, there’s a way!” she excitedly finished, face looking down at Luci, imagining what the next generation of Cullans would be like after experiencing Momo’s Painted Revolution.

Vin held back their more snide remarks because Loni was still so upset, but their disdain was clear in their expression- hidden from Loni as she cuddled Luci. They'd never be able to coexist? Sure, Vin hadn't been combining them for years or anything! Fucking up themselves rich ass test tube Green Adepts…

And Loni was eating it up, the tears starting to dry. Like Black Lux could and should only be used when it was hidden from the Hound. The Hound was no worse than the Deer… Life and death were both of equal importance. Everyone died. It was natural.

Both Green and Black adepts had just as much capacity for evil. One just had the stigma attached to it. And Green was more common than Black… There were probably a larger quantity using it for bad.

"Is it really possible? To use em both in that way?" Loni asked, finally looking back up at Kiki with wide eyes.
"Without the Apathy gettin' overwhelming?"

”It's already possible.” Vin spoke as neutrally as possible. It was easier when it was Loni they were speaking to.
”I do it. You did it too, before Mama got sick! It doesn't require a grown baby and complex magic to have em coexist.”

Kiki giggled and nodded.
”I meant for Matriarchs Vin. Of course Adepts can do it: That’s what the Cryptarn are for! But, imagine having someone like Momo, ‘cept they can do all sorts of shit that we don’t even know about. Like, we could watch and see what Vin does, but is that what the Deer’s magic would look like? Would Matriarchs express that differently? That’s the fun speculatory part.” she added, voice steadying out to calm explanation again.

”But, Vin’s right. Totally right, again. Crazy how right you are all the time, Dude!” she expressed directly to Vin.

Vin let out a slight laugh, almost violent tension reducing when Kiki clarified what she meant. Matriarchs, right.
”That’s what I keep tryna tell Lon, but she don’t listen half the time.”

"You ain’t always right." Loni protested with a pout.

”Name one time I wasn’t, then.”

Obviously, she couldn’t there and then. But it definitely happened! Loads! They were just too stubborn to admit it, like she was too stubborn to admit they were right sometimes.

”Exactly.” Vin laughed a bit more, reaching out to ruffle Loni’s hair, then Luci’s.
”I suppose it’ll be nice to have someone else in Lon’s life that ain’t gonna run at the first blast of proper Black Lux.”

”Lon’s gonna be her Godmother. Momo says she wants her to grow up alongside Luci, so she plans on releasing her early. With any luck, She’ll be with us before Loni needs to defend the Apartado.” Kiki nodded with a smile.

”Y’know, I’m really feelin’ the love right now. You guys wanna take the little one and go see a movie?” Kiki asked with a big grin.

”You payin’?” Vin immediately shot back.

”Well, these two can’t.” Kiki grinned down at Loni and Luci, tucking them into another big hug.

And she felt so warm in that moment.